One for the Road
by BeWitchingRedhead36
Summary: Mac and Dick slowly discover they're developing feelings for each other. And then Mac is hurt while helping Veronica on a case and Dick decides he wants to nurse her back to health. I decided to rate this M just to be safe because there is some swearing and a little making out too. Nothing too graphic though.
1. Chapter 1 Fantasy interruptus

**Author's note: Thanks for reading. This is my first fan fiction ever. I've been addicted to reading other peoples' stories for a while now so I thought I'd try my hand at it too. So please keep that in mind, but don't go too easy on me either. I haven't written stories for a long time and am so excited to have a place to go to try again. I plan on making this a 3 or 4 chapter story. We'll see...Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer-Sadly, I own nothing! These awesome characters I've borrowed belong to Rob Thomas. **

"Earth to Mars. Earth to Mars." Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie raced across the vast Hearst College campus to catch up to Veronica Mars, the Bond to her Q.

Their sophomore year had just begun. Veronica had just gotten back from Langley, Virginia a couple of weeks ago, fresh off her FBI internship. Mac had stayed in Neptune working her computer magic as a freelancer both for local companies and also the occasional moonlighting gig for Keith Mars. The money was also still trickling in from the hot ass website she and Logan created. By 02er standards she was pretty rich.

"Q! We must stop meeting like this."

"Hey V. So, that text you sent me earlier. Some case in desperate need of my techie wizardary? Some slob who can't keep it in his pants? Or is it something more nefarious?"

"Yes to both of those actually. You done yet? Do you have time to hit Java with me?"

"I only have one more class, but it's not til 4. So yes, I can definitely squeeze in some time for a soy latte and some super sleuthing too."

"No, Mac, no sleuthing. Not yet anyway. We just need to work out a strategy."

Because of their differing afternoon schedules they drove separately to Java the Hut in downtown Neptune. Mac parked her green bug beside Veronica's silver Saturn SUV, snickering to herself. Gotta love the image of a Mars driving a Saturn. Mac took a quick peak in the mirror at her reflection. This week she was sporting a blue streak in her otherwise black hair.

Five minutes later both girls were sipping their lattes, tucked away in a quiet corner of the popular coffee shop. Veronica outlined the case. It was early on so she didn't have a lot of details to share but she definitely had some financials she needed Mac to dig around in. A basic background search Veronica had instigated seemed to indicate a money trail leading to the Cayman Islands. After Veronica told Mac what she needed her to do for the case the conversation drifted to what they did over the summer.

"So, tell me about the FBI."

"Not much to tell, Q. They just ran me ragged. Sadly not much butt kicking. I hope to change that soon."

"Logan better watch out."

"You know it. So what about you? What did I miss?"

"This is Neptune! Nothing ever changes. I spent the summer retrieving lost emails from over paid execs who don't know RAM from ROM, and rating asses with Logan and Dick."

"Sounds educational!" Veronica said. Her eyebrows quirked up though at the mention of Dick's name.

Mac just snorted. "Yeah, real educational. I'm becoming an expert in the ass persuasion."

"Speaking of asses, how IS Dick."

"I made an important discovery actually. He can sometimes, occasionally, once in awhile be an actual human being. And once in great while say something that is intelligent. Wow, maybe it was an educational summer after all, who knew? Oh, and he even beat me one time in Halo 3."

"Casablancas? Dick Casablancas? Are we talking about the same Dick?"

"That's him."

"Is there anything you'd like to confess, MacAttack? Confession is good for the soul, they say."

Mac laughed out loud at that. "Nope! Nada. Nothing. Just making conversation. Seriously, nothing happened. It's just, well, we actually started talking. He's not so bad. I think he felt guilty for last year. You know, that whole beard comment. Anyway, baby steps I guess. So we're not besties, there was no hair braiding and pillow fights, but I did enjoy our Halo marathons. You're not to breathe a word of that to any one, V, under penalty of a very slow death."

"Okay, well, on that note I think I'll bid my farewell. You work your computer mojo, I'll work my pixie spy magic and we'll go from there."

*************************_Begin_**_**Flashback**_********************************************

"_Take that, sucker!" Mac jumped up, throwing her Xbox controller down and doing a victory dance in front of the leather couch in the penthouse suite of the Neptune Grand that both Dick and Logan called home. It was her first time playing the game, and she'd won. Mac turned her head to catch a look at her gaming partner, Dick Casablanca. He had a scowl on his face. _

"_Beginners luck, Ghostworld. Beginners luck." _

"_Just skills." _

"_In your dreams!" By now the big surfer boy with shaggy blonde hair was grinning. _

_After they played a couple more times Dick was fully convinced it was more than just luck. Mac did indeed have skills. He really liked the red streak in her otherwise black hair. It seemed to change week to week. He remembered telling her on the beach several months ago he finally got why Cassidy liked her. The truth was though, he always got what the Beav saw in her. Ghostworld was smart, she was snarky, she had a sweet side, and she was definitely hot. _

_They quit playing Xbox and started drinking rum and cokes. Mac's drink was heavy on coke, not so much on the rum, it was the opposite ratio for Dick's. The TV was droning on in the background but no one was really watching it. Mac was looking around the suite, really looking anywhere but at Dick. On the other hand Dick was studying her. _

"_Uh Mac, you were never his beard." The words came out in a rush. "I don't know why I said that. Actually, I do kind of know why. But he did care about you, as much as he could that is. Man, my life is so messed up now." _

_Mac leaned over and kissed Dick at that moment. When she replayed it in her memory (which happened more than she wanted to admit) she changed things around a little bit so it was Dick who kissed her. But regardless of who instigated the kiss (Mac), it was hot. It was only the click of the key card being swiped that made them pull apart. Logan stumbled into the room unaware of what he'd just interrupted. He was too drunk to notice the glare from Dick and the blush that overtook Mac's face. _

_"__Mac!" Logan slurred. "Did we have plans?"_

"_No, not really. I just came by to look over the website data. Dick, um, we played Halo. We can go over work stuff another time." Mac said everything in a rush. She just wanted to get out of there. She and Dick didn't have another chance to kiss since that night but they played video games a lot since then. And she discovered they could talk, actually talk to each other. No hair braiding or anything, but Dick was fast becoming someone she counted among her friends. And for Mac, that label wasn't used lightly. _

_*******************End Flashback***************************************************_

Mac was done with classes for the rest of the day. The prof had let them out a little early. Since it was still early in the semester she didn't have a lot of homework yet. She mentally replayed the conversation she and Veronica had had earlier that day. The case seemed to be your basic girl meets boy, girl likes boy, girl sees boy with hooker, girl starts to distrust boy case, but Mac had played Q to Veronica's Bond often enough to know nothing was ever that clear cut.

Mac pulled into the lot behind the apartment she shared with Parker. They decided to live off campus for their sophomore year. After being raped in her dorm room her first week at Hearst, Parker was glad to be living off campus this year. And between the computer geek scholarships Mac had and all the money she made over the summer, she could easily afford to live away from home. The apartment was on the 3rd floor, and if you craned your head to the left and stood on your tiptoes you could see a sliver of the Pacific Ocean gleaming in the distance. Okay, it wasn't exactly considered an ocean view, but it was a nice 2 bedroom apartment and with the castoffs her mom gave them and a big sale at Neptune Furniture Express the place was a step up from standard college kid fare. She and Parker liked to describe it as shabby chic.

Mac entered the apartment and kicked her scuffed black tennis shoes off. She was happy to see that Parker wasn't home yet. They got along pretty well but being a loner at heart, Mac always enjoyed the brief snatches of privacy she got when Parker was out. She grabbed a coke and then stretched out on her big purple sofa. Her sofa, she liked the sound of that. Her mind drifted off to high school, more specifically senior year. Before graduation night, the night everything changed. For some reason, Cassidy Casablancas had been on Mac's mind a lot that day. Maybe it was because she'd been hanging out with Dick lately. She thought she was probably the only person on the planet whose first boyfriend was a rapist, a mass murderer and ended his life by jumping off the roof of the Neptune Grand hotel. Her dating life certainly hadn't gotten off to a very auspicious beginning. And now she was in love with his older brother. Wait, love? No, not love, just a deep like. She was attracted to Cassidy's brother. Yes, that was it, she thought to herself, attracted. God did she want to jump Dick's bones. She was just picturing him naked when the doorbell rang. Shit! It wasn't coitus interruptus, just fantasy interruptus.

Mac could feel the blush creeping over her face as she opened the door and found Dick on the other side. She wondered briefly if she'd conjured him up.

"Hey Ghostworld."

"Dick? What brings you to my humble abode?"

"I was nowhere near your neighborhood."

"And yet, here you are. Okay then. On that note, c'mon in. I didn't realize we'd had plans."

"No, we don't. I can leave if this is a bad time. I come bearing games though, if that helps."

"Yeah, it does. Make yourself at home Dick." But by the time Mac said that Dick had grabbed himself a coke and had settled down on her couch with his feet propped up over the arm. "Uh, I see you've already done that."

Mac grabbed the game out of his hand and loaded it into the X-Box then tried to shove his feet off the couch so she could sit down there too. Dick wasn't going to give in so easily though, so she had to resort to tickling him. Soon though it turned into a full-fledged tickle war. And then from war it quickly morphed into making out. This time Mac was fairly certain Dick had initiated the kissing but that didn't matter, she was a more than willing participant. She could feel Dick's hardness as he pressed into her, and she let out a moan as he kissed her neck. Finally, reluctantly, Dick pulled away and Mac tried to hide how disappointed she felt.

"As much fun as that was, we have a game to play," he said by way of explanation for pulling away.

"Well, get ready for some ass kicking."

"I'm always ready for your ass, Macster." They played Halo a couple times, and true to Mac's word, she did indeed win each time. It was hardly surprising though, as hard as he played, Mac almost always ended up the victor. After laying down the controllers on the coffee table in front of them, Mac stretched out on the couch laying her head on Dick's lap. She stretched her head back a little so she could watch him. He looked deep in thought. At first Mac was tempted to say something sarcastic like _I hope all that thinking isn't painful_, but something in his expression held her back.

"Is everything okay, Dick?"

"Mostly, yeah." He sighed."I don't know, I guess I just wanted to be distracted today. And I've got to say no one does a better job of that than you." Dick smiled suggestively at her when he said that. "I've just, well, the Beav, um er, Cassidy, has been on my mind a lot today. I was just thinking how this week would be the start of his freshman year. I don't know where he would've ended up going, but it's so weird how things turned out. Not what they should be. Or maybe exactly how they should be, I really have no answers right now."

"He's been on mind a lot today too. I don't know why. I actually suspected it was because you and I have become, well, whatever it is we've become. Gaming buddies? Is this weird? It is, isn't it?"

"No, Ghostworld, this is anything but weird. You and I and our gaming friendship make more sense to me than anything else going on in my life now. But really, do we need to define this right this second?"

"No, I guess not."

Dick didn't stay long after that. They talked about their first week of classes, and also how long they thought it would take for Logan and Veronica to officially start dating. The duo had stayed in touch during the summer, but things were still up in the air between those too. Dick was giving it no more than 2 weeks, however Mac thought it would take at least a month for Veronica to come around and give Logan yet another chance.

When it was time to go Dick kissed Mac. It wasn't exactly time to alert the media, but Mac definitely thought there might be relationship potential there. She actually wanted to date Dick, who knew?! She went into her bedroom and grabbed her laptop. She might as well do a little digging for V. It would distract her from a certain shaggy blonde surfer dude who never seemed to be far from her thoughts—or lips—these days.

While she booted up, Mac mentally inventoried what exactly it was Veronica wanted her to dig for. Mainly just hack into the mark's computer, look for dates, times, suspicious emails etc that indicated he was partaking in an extra circular love life. But V had also indicated something was hinkey with the guy's finances. As part of the Mars Investigations full package Veronica ran a complete background check even on cheating cases and something had seemed off to her.

After about ten minutes of work Mac found a couple suggestive emails, several suspicious chat archives, but not really the "smoking gun" V had wanted. Still, though, it was a start. However, Mac wasn't ready to quit yet. She changed tactics and started perusing other archives on the network. Oh shit, she thought! Hidden very well was basically a blueprint for embezzling, the program was a work of genius. It siphoned off little sums of money from every customer account, 30 dollars or so here, 15 there. However, the transactions were all from customers' of Kane Software, and those little amounts were adding up fast. And the other thing that had Mac so scared, the guy obviously knew a thing or two about computers. She recognized a tracing program on the network. Her own firewalls were pretty secure, but not as secure as they needed to be for this program. Mac knew she was about to be discovered.


	2. On the Road

**Disclaimer: Sadly I own nothing. These wonderful characters all belong to the very lucky Rob Thomas! **

**Author's note: Well here is chapter 2. I know a few of you think that I rushed things a bit between Mac & Dick and I think that's probably accurate. I tried to explain a few things later on in this chapter. I hope that helps things a bit. If not, any suggestions would definitely be appreciated. Also, I hope I got the medical stuff right. Not my expertise really. Also, the case will make more of an appearance later on in the story, but now it's more of a means to this end. Thanks for continuing to read this. All your reviews really helped. Please keep them coming.  
**

Mac grabbed one of Parker's beers from the fridge. She wasn't much of a drinker but she was hoping it would help her from freaking out too much. She loved helping Veronica on cases, but it was V who was the danger magnet, not her. She preferred the safety and anonymity of behind-the-scenes computer work, suited her much better. She was right, she decided after finishing the beer, it did help her calm down. However, it made her want to talk to her favorite new buddy and perhaps do a little more than just talking to him.

"Dick?" Mac said when he picked up his cell.

"Mac. You drunk dialing me?"

"You wish. No, just one beer doesn't make me drunk. Though compared to you, I am a lightweight."

"Compared to me, most people are lightweights."

Mac laughed and didn't correct him. It was true after all.

"You busy right now?"

"I'm never to busy to talk to you, Ghostworld. What's up?"

"Probably nothing. I just got a little freaked. I think the case V's got me working on is a little more complicated, a little more dangerous than it seemed at first. I'm being silly though. This is Neptune, what could go wrong?" She was being sarcastic at that last part though, and Dick of all people knew a lot of dark, sinister things could and did happen in Neptune.

"You in need of body guard services? Because I'll guard your body anytime, Mac!"

She laughed. "I'm good, thanks. I just wanted to hear another voice...Your voice actually."

"I'm not kidding. I can come right over. Is Parker there? You're not alone are you? If you're that scared you don't need to be by yourself."

"I'm fine, Dick. Parker should be home soon. It's okay. Just get your homework done. I'll see you tomorrow. I think our 2:30 classes are across the hall from each other, right?"

"Yes, that's right. Okay, if you're sure. Call me anytime, okay? I'll be right there if you need me. Night Mac. Sweet dreams."

"Good night, Dick. Thanks."

An hour later Mac fell asleep with a smile on her lips, thinking of Dick. She was feeling a lot better about the case. She'd decided to go by Mars Investigations tomorrow afternoon to update V on what she'd discovered. She was also going to suggest that they pass this info on to Vinnie, the new Sheriff in town, he could handle it. It was beyond her pay grade—hell, it was beyond Veronica's too.

Despite getting to sleep early, morning still came too soon Mac thought as she struggled to open her eyes. The sun was pouring in through the blinds. She had an early class and then a big gap in her schedule until her 2:30 Econ class. She'd just stop by Mars Investigations around noon to give Veronica the status update. V had planned her Tuesday and Thursday class schedule so she could work for her dad in the afternoons.

After her first class, Mac had sent Veronica a text saying she'd be dropping by Mars Investigations around 12:30 to discuss the emails she'd discovered and other details about their case. On her way to see V she stopped at Java to get them each a cup of coffee, a soy latte for herself and a black coffee with three sugars for Veronica. She'd parked her distinctive lime green convertible bug in a lot across the street.

Despite being lunch hour, the street in front of the office was pretty quiet. Mac briefly looked both ways and then started crossing the street. She wasn't even halfway across when she thought she heard something. She'd just started to look to her left when she felt herself lifted up off the ground. The 2 coffee cups flew out of her hands with the impact. However, before she could even figure out why she was suddenly airborne, her trajectory had reversed again and the ground was rushing towards her. As soon as she hit the ground she blacked out. For how long though she wasn't sure.

The first thing Mac was aware of was pain. She hadn't even tried to open her eyes yet, maybe if they stayed closed she wouldn't hurt as bad. At least that's what she tried to tell herself, but she knew that wouldn't matter either way. Besides the sight of blood scared her and she could feel blood trickling down her face. She tried to concentrate as best she could on each part of her body, catalog her injuries as much as possible. Her head hurt, she hoped she didn't have a concussion, that would mean at least an overnight hospital stay. Great! She also suspected a couple cracked ribs. But it was her knee that hurt worst of all. When she tried to straighten out her leg it hurt so bad she involuntarily let out a moan.

Next, she became aware of someone holding her hand, crying softly. She managed to open her eyes briefly and saw Veronica. "V." She barely managed to get that word out.

"Hey Mac, hang in there. Dad called 911. An ambulance will be here soon. I heard this loud thud and you know me, nosy is my middle name, so I looked out the window. I really really really never want to see that again. It wasn't until I got outside though that I saw that the unlucky pedestrian was you. Don't ever do that again."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea to me. Never get hit by a car again."

"Um, Mac, the car never even slowed down. Do you think this was just an accident?"

"No."

Just then the ambulance pulled up. Mac drifted in and out of consciousness as the medics worked on her then lifted her gurney gently into the waiting ambulance. She did notice that Veronica rode beside her on the way to the hospital.

One of the medics had whispered in her ear that they were going to Neptune Memorial. Mac had mixed feelings about that news. She was born there, and they'd sent her home with the Mackenzies instead of the Sinclairs. She'd found out she was at the center of a baby switch up when she was a junior in high school. She'd never felt like she truly belonged in the Mackenzie family but still, who would've thought there had been a baby mix up. Veronica had been the one who had discovered the truth for her. To this day her parents didn't suspect that she knew the truth about her birth, something they themselves had known since she was 4. Still, the Mackenzies loved her enough to keep her and she loved them enough to keep this secret to herself. Of course right now, if they would just take her pain away and get her all fixed up she'd be the number one fan of Neptune Memorial. She'd dance in their commercials if they wanted her too. Though she was pretty certain dancing wasn't going to be in her near future. Not that it was ever really one of her favorite hobbies to begin with.

A couple of hours later the official diagnosis was a dislocated left knee, mild concussion, 2 bruised ribs, 1 cracked rib and lots of bruising. She also had 3 stitches put on her forehead, but the doctor promised there wouldn't be a scar, not that she was worried about that, her hair covered it. The good news about the knee was that the doctor was reasonably sure she would not need surgery on it. Unfortunately though because of the concussion she was going to have to stay overnight.

_**Dick's POV**_

Dick just loved the ocean. He loved watching the tide rolling in and back out again. Nothing made him feel smaller and more insignificant than the ocean tide, and he liked that feeling. Life had been kicking the shit out of him for the past year and a half and that was such a shift from how his life had been previously. His mom left him for a new family. Then his dad was unmasked as a criminal, stealing millions of dollars from hardworking people, then his gold-digging stepmom was having an affair with his best friend, and of course his only brother, Cassidy (the Beaver) jumped off the roof of the Neptune Grand after it was revealed the was really a murderer and rapist. His whole life lately had been front page news. So yeah, maybe just maybe his life was just a small ripple in a big wide-open sea.

And of course now Dick was developing feelings for his brothers' ex, Mac. Despite his own insistence on not defining their relationship, he knew he felt much more than just friendship for Mac. A year ago he'd never have predicted he would be friends with Mac, a 12th level dork as he used to think of her as, let alone want to date her.

Dick headed over to his beach blanket, shaking the water off of him as he walked. He'd come straight over to hit a few waves after his first class. He wondered what Mac was up to.

After his 2:30 class let out he looked for her in the hall. Truthfully he was a little disappointed when he didn't see her waiting for him. Well, okay, he was a lot disappointed. It didn't seem likely that she'd missed her own class, Mac wasn't the type to skip out. He'd just have to catch up with her later.

When he got back to the Neptune Grand a half hour later Logan was already sitting on the couch playing _Overlord_. Dick grabbed the other controller and sat down next to him. Logan restarted the game so they both could play. Dick was just starting to take the lead, when Logan's cell vibrated. He glanced down at the text he'd just received and in just one look Dick could tell it wasn't good news.

"Um, Dick, I just got a text from Ronnie. She's at the hospital."

"Dude, is she okay? Do you need a ride there?" Though it was true that Ronnie wasn't one of Dick's favorite people, Logan was and he would be lost without her. It didn't matter that Ronnie and Logan were often more off than on, they still belonged together. His concern for her was genuine.

"Ronnie's fine. I didn't say she was in the hospital, just at the hospital. It's Mac. She was hit by a car in front of Mars Investigations."

Dick was sure his heart stopped, just for a second. "How bad? Do they know anything? We've got to go."

"No, I don't know anything yet. Ronnie just said that Mac was in the hospital after being hit by a car. Come on, I'll drive you. I think there are some things going on that I don't know about."

"Not really. Mac and I are friends, and stuff."

Logan gave him a weird look at that statement but didn't say anything else about it as they left the hotel and headed over to Neptune Memorial. He'd get the scoop later, right now he was just worried about Mac too.

When Dick found Mac's room on the 4th floor he took one look at her sitting up in bed, a white bandage on her pale forehead, and just stared at her for a second. He didn't know what to do, hug her, make a stupid ass joke (his specialty), or yell at her for getting hurt, which didn't make sense either since really for all he knew it was just an accident. He just went with his first instinct though, and went over to her and hugged her gently, afraid he might break her some more. Mac wasn't really what he thought of as fragile, but he couldn't handle the thought of hurting her worse.

"Hi Dick, hey Logan." Mac said noticing Logan coming in behind Dick. Logan also leaned over to hug her before going over to Veronica's side to give her a hug too.

Dick hadn't known what to expect so while it much worse than he'd hoped, it wasn't nearly as bad as he'd feared either. Other than the bandage on her head, she just had her knee in a splint and propped up. "So what's the deal?"

"Concussion, cracked rib and dislocated knee."

"That sucks. You in a lot of pain?"

"Right at this moment, no." She gestured over to the IV pole next to her bed. "I've got the good stuff on tap right now." She gave Dick a goofy grin.

"You feel like sharing?"

"No way! Get your own. Or not. I actually wouldn't recommend this, though they do serve good drugs here."

"Well, I hate to interrupt this banter guys but I think I'll steal Logan away and head down to the cafeteria. My stomach just reminded me that I missed lunch." Veronica said as she gave Mac a pat on top of her head, studiously avoiding the area she'd hit on the pavement. "I'll be back soon."

As soon as they left, Dick said "okay dude, I've got to know, how the hell do you get hit by a car?" His voice was a little louder than he'd planned, but he wasn't feeling rational at the moment.

"I don't know. Never did it before. It's not like I'm 3, I know to look both ways before crossing the street. There was no one there, then suddenly I was on the hood of a big car. I'm not even sure what the make or model was. It was dark, oh, there you go. That's my entire description. Not exactly much to go on. Can't quite put out a BOLO on that can you?"

"That's so cold, hitting someone and driving off."

"Well yeah, if it was just an accident, I could almost believe someone would just get freaked out and leave the scene. Veronica said they never even slowed down. We've got our doubts about this being an accident. Welcome to the exciting life of a computer geek for one PI Veronica Mars."

"Why didn't I guess the pixie spy had something to do with this. Stupid Dick. I guess you weren't paranoid after all."

"For one thing, it's not V's fault. So don't go giving her shit about this. I'm an adult, I like being her Q. Though I can pass on any more excitement like this. Also, no more talking in the 2nd person please. Ever. Mac finds that so annoying! Look, let's not talk about this anymore. My parents will be here soon and I thought I might skip a few facts in the retelling of the tale to the 'rents. Too bad this didn't happen next weekend, that's when 2nd of the biannual Mackenzie camping trips will take place. Oh but now I have a great excuse to skip it. Things are looking up."

Dick wound the subject around to other things while he waited for Logan and Ronnie to finish their lunch. He mentioned that he'd found it strange that Mac had ditched her 2:30 class. When Logan and Ronnie got back to the room ten minutes later Dick and Mac started teasing them about that being their 3rd first date.

"Yes, there's nothing more romantic than eating institutional food amidst the antiseptic smell of a hospital. Dick, you should seriously consider taking Mac there on your first official date," Logan snarked.

"We're not dating," both Mac and Dick shouted out at the exact same time. Veronica and Logan exchanged a skeptical look. "Me thinks you doth protest too much there, Mackie," Veronica added.

That was right when Sam and Natalie Mackenzie walked into their daughters' room. Everyone else cleared out shortly after greeting Mac's worried parents. Dick wanted to reassure them he'd keep their daughter safe from now on, but decided that wasn't something he could really promise. What surprised him though was how much he wanted to make that promise. He wondered where all that self-reflection was coming from. After saying goodbye to Mac and promising to call her later, he headed out the door following Logan. He braced himself for Logan's barrage of questions on the ride back to the Neptune Grand.

_**Mac's POV**_

Mac was really glad her parents didn't stay more than an hour. They wanted to be there longer but they had to get back to Ryan. She found herself thankful for bratty younger brothers, not something she always felt that grateful for however. The meds were starting to wear off, and though she'd soon end up asking for more, she wanted her head a little more clear at least for the short term.

She remembered what Logan had said about her and Dick going on a date. When they had first started hanging out as friends in the beginning of summer she'd never thought she'd consider Dick as anything more than a jackass very slowly starting to mature. Fun to hang out with yeah, a decent kisser maybe (since they did have that one impromptu kiss), but not necessarily dating material. But those hot ass meetings with Logan grew more frequent, and became less and less about discussing asses and more about seeing Dick. The realization crept up on Mac pretty slowly though. She may have been book smart, but she knew she wasn't knowledgeable about guys, especially with her less than stellar early track record with the opposite sex. And of course there was the added complication of who Dick was. But something about the start of the new school year made her want something a little more than friendship with Dick. Still maybe not love, but something more than just gaming buddies. But then Mac wondered if this was the right time to start soul searching. Probably not. Geez, her knee was throbbing now, and her head was pounding. She pressed the nurse button and waited not that patiently for someone to come by delivering the goods.

The nurse had just left after shooting more painkillers into Mac's IV when the bedside phone rang.

"Mac's room." She was feeling nice and floaty now. Those IV drugs were fast acting.

"Macster. How's it hanging? You doing okay?" Dick said.

"Much better now. Just got a refill of pain meds."

"Sounds better than my rum and coke. Look, maybe I could drop by tomorrow with breakfast? I'm thinking maybe Neptune Memorial does not have the best vegan selections. I know a place that makes great vegan pancakes, if that sounds good."

"Breakfast in bed. Especially pancakes in bed, well I can't say no to that."

Mac was starting to get sleepy so they said good bye not long after that. Before she drifted off to sleep, she thought about those 3 flights of stairs. She'd be on crutches for at least 6 weeks the doctor said and she was worried about all those stairs. She wasn't the most coordinated person in the world. Well, that was a worry for another day.

TBC...


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note: Thanks for (still) reading...Hope you enjoy. I'm going to try to update this every Wed. or Thurs. til it's done, who knows when that will be. Probably will be at least 2 more chapters. Maybe more than that.**_

_**Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own these characters. Though if I could bid for them on an online auction I would. I'm still happily borrowing them and playing with them. Rob Thomas still owns them. Lucky guy.  
**_

Mac woke up suddenly. She realized a nightmare had brought her out of her sleep this time. All she'd been getting that night were short bursts of sleep, either she'd wake up from the nightmare of reliving the impact of the car, or a nurse would be in there checking something, or an obnoxious beep of one of the machines hooked up to her. Ironically, hospitals were the worst place to get any sleep, though that's when you needed it the most.

Mac turned on the TV, glad she was in a private room so she didn't have to worry about waking up anyone lucky enough to be able to sleep. It was 4:30 AM and nothing good to choose from. Infomercials or reruns of sitcoms she didn't really find funny the first time around. She turned off the TV, thinking she probably shouldn't be watching it anyway because of the concussion. She really had just been hoping for some background noise to fall asleep to.

Mac hated sleeping on her back, but her ribs and knee now made any other position impossible. She felt herself starting to throw herself a pity-party, but she stopped that right then. That wasn't her style. She'd be okay. Eventually. She didn't feel sorry for herself (well much) when she found out she'd been switched at birth. She didn't feel sorry for herself when her first real boyfriend took a dive off the Neptune Grand, she was too busy feeling sorry for what caused him to do that in the first place. And she was too busy feeling sorry for what he did to Veronica. And worst of all, feeling so guilty that she just did not see how damaged Cassidy really was. So why start feeling sorry for herself now?

Her mind wandered back to earlier that day. Deputy Sacks had dropped by to talk to her about the accident while she was being examined in the ER. It was just the standard questions typical of a hit and run incident. She and Veronica had discussed what to tell the sheriff's department on the way to the hospital. It was decided that for now they wouldn't share their suspicions, at least not until V did a little more Bond work first. Mac was starting to think that maybe that wasn't a great idea. She was terrified that V would end up in even worse shape than she was now. That was a scary thought.

Her head was achey, she decided she was doing too much thinking.

A nurse came by a few minutes later and to take her vitals and give her another shot of pain meds. Sleep arrived shortly after. Though it seemed like only a short time later, it really was several more hours til she woke up again.

The soft thud of something hitting the tray in front of her bed jolted her awake. She first saw the white Styrofoam take out container, then she noticed a shaggy blonde surfer dude standing off to the side. He had a take out container in his hand too.

"Hey Mac! Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey! Well, pancakes for you. Vegan of course. And eggs and bacon for me." Dick grinned at her.

"Someone is a little too wide awake for so early in the morning." Mac muttered. She wasn't a morning person in the best of circumstances and waking up in a hospital definitely did not qualify as best circumstances. "But thank you for the pancakes. Sounds good." She remembered her manners. Mac tried but failed to hide her discomfort as she tried to sit up to eat.

Dick noticed her wince. The grin left his face. Quietly he went over to her and found the button that adjusted the bed.

"Okay, that was probably the better way to sit up. My way kind of sucked."

"That's what they make that modern technology for, Mac. You should seriously join the 21st century."

"Funny. You're too funny this morning."

"Well, I've been awake for hours. Plus lots of coffee, that helps too. I got you a cup too. Soy latte. That's your poison of choice, right?" Dick crossed over to the window ledge to retrieve her coffee. He put it on her tray next to the pancakes.

"Okay, a girl could seriously get used this."

"Don't get too used to it though. You doing okay this morning? You get any sleep last night?"

"Eh. Been better. And no, not much sleep."

"Hospitals are loud places. Not easy to sleep in. You know, I didn't get much sleep either."

"See, I was hit by a car yesterday. That's not exactly conducive to a good nights sleep. What's your excuse?"

"See, I have this friend who was hit by a car yesterday. That's not exactly con-de, whatever the hell that word you used was, to sleep either."

Before Mac could say anything she heard a knock on the door, it pushed open to reveal Veronica.

"Q! How's my favorite techie doing this morning?"

"What the frak is with you people? Way way to chipper for what, 9:30, 10 in the morning."

"A little grumpy this morning I see." Veronica said not unsympathetically.

"Yeah, well...Sorry guys."

Dick and Veronica both rushed to reassure Mac they weren't taking her mood personally.

"So, I did come to see you and your sunshiney personality. But also, you need to call Parker. She really got freaked when you never came home last night. She even called me to check up on you. 'That's so unlike Mac,' blah blah blah. And you know I'm not exactly her favorite person. For some reason. I told her you got a little banged up, but I didn't go into the whole story. You'll need to talk to her, text her, something."

"I didn't even think to call her. Kind of busy doing nothing I guess. Sorry pal that you had to deal with her. I know she's not your favorite person either. I probably shouldn't have turned my cell off. Crap, now I've probably got like 50 voice mails and texts."

Veronica reached over and gently squeezed Mac's hand, the one not connected to the IV. "T'is okay. I don't have an issue with her." The "now" was implied. "Besides we have one thing in common. Well, two. You. And being exes with Logan. And I think it's probably only 25 messages from Parker."

"Oh well, if that's all..."

After Veronica left, Mac turned on her cell, ignoring all the messages. In reality it was only 5, plus 4 texts, but still more than she felt like slogging through. She called Parker at their apartment. Parker was insistent about coming down to the hospital to see her. Mac was getting a little tired of pretending she didn't hurt all over and felt like total shit. But she knew Parker wouldn't take no for an answer, and she really didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings either.

Dick was still stationed in her room, sitting on the chair by the bed, his feet propped up on the edge of her bed. He was on her right hand side so as not to accidentally kick her injured side. He was watching TV, some stupid morning talk show. She was drifting in and out of sleep. For some reason she didn't feel like she really had to pretend to feel better than she did with him.

"Oh Mac! What happened to you? You look terrible." Parker said rushing into her room exactly 25 minutes after their conversation. Mac jerked awake. Parker hugged her a little more forcibly than she would've liked. She groaned a little when Parker's hand accidentally brushed over one of her bruised ribs.

"Be careful Park," Dick warned. "Mac's got a cracked rib. Maybe stick to a handshake next time."

"Oh, sorry! Did I hurt you? Oh Macster! A little banged up?! That doesn't cover it."

Mac was proud of herself for controlling her urge to roll her eyes. "No, it's okay. You didn't hurt me too bad. Wait. Terrible? Did you just say I look terrible? Yeah, that makes me feel better about myself. Thanks for that."

"You know what I meant. No offense. Well, at least you haven't lost your sarcastic sense of humor. Same old Mac, that's a good sign."

"When I lose that, then you need to worry. I really am just a little banged up. Nothing serious is wrong. But I did learn that moms are on to something when they tell you to look both ways when crossing the Street. Seriously, good advice. You should take it, too."

"That's why you're in here? You got hit by a car? Veronica didn't tell me that part." Parker's voice rose.

"Because she played no small part in why it happened," Dick interjected.

"Dick!" Mac shouted at the same time Parker said "what does that mean?"

Mac glared at Dick, daring him to say anymore. "It doesn't mean anything. It was just an accident. It happened in front of Mars Investigations though so Dick wants to blame V for it. Just for the record, she was not the one driving. So no one will be blaming Veronica for any of it." The last part was said pointedly as she continued to glare at Dick.

"I actually heard there was a hit and run yesterday afternoon. I never thought the victim was you though. They just gave the headline on the campus radio. They didn't even say it was a student at Hearst involved."

"Ah, so this won't be my 15 minutes of fame then. Good to know."

"When will you be home? Can you handle all those stairs up to our apartment? I assume you'll be on crutches?" Parker's glance landed on Mac's knee brace.

"Yes, I'll be on crutches. No clue when I'll be home though. I guess I'll crash at the 'rents house for a few days at least. Downstairs, on the couch. That will be fun, just like high school, except totally different."

"You know Mac-attack, there's room at the suite. As comfy as I'm sure your parent's couch is, my bed is better. I'll even sleep on the couch." Dick said.

"You should probably disinfect the bed first though," Parker couldn't resist adding. She earned a glare at Dick for that though. Mac just laughed.

"Thanks for the offer Dick. For now though I'll probably just take the couch at my old domicile. But a couple days of Ryan, and I might just take you up on your offer."

Before they could continue that conversation however, there was a knock on Mac's door. A nurse stuck her head in. Her name tag said Tara. "Sorry to interrupt the party guys, but I need to check a few things. Your visitors might want to go into the hall for a little bit. That includes your boyfriend there. I'm going to remove the IV and the catheter."

Mac blushed when the nurse called Dick her boyfriend. "Um, he's not my boyfriend," she corrected.

"Okay, then. Your friends will still probably want to leave for that though. And in about a half hour I'll have someone from PT come by to show you how to use your crutches," Nurse Tara continued. "Just give me 15 minutes to remove everything and then she's yours again."

Parker chose to just leave since she had a class in an hour anyway. Dick however said he'd go downstairs to the lobby coffee shop and bring her back another coffee.

After the nurse left, Mac just sat quietly in the bed waiting for the coffee to arrive. And if she was honest with herself, waiting for Dick to get back too. By now the IV meds had worn off and the pain was really started to bare down on her. In addition to the sharp pain of her ribs, and head and the dull throbby-ache of her knee, she was starting to hurt in other places too as more bruises started appearing. The strong pain killers had lived up to that name and done a good job of killing her pain but now that she'd been weaned off of them she realized that life was going to suck for her for quite a while. She felt something wet on her cheek. Dammit. She was crying, she realized. She never cried, never. She tried to wipe the tears before Dick came back.

"Hey, Mac-attack, just call me your personal Barrista. Well, I guess not Barrista exactly, I didn't make the coffee myself..." Dick's voice trailed off as soon as he saw her face. She assumed she didn't do a very good job wiping away the evidence. "Cindy. What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"You mean besides the fact you just called me Cindy? Yes, sorry. I'm okay. You know what? No, I'm not okay. I ache everywhere. I don't want to be on crutches. I guess it all just caught up with me. Don't you wish you were still downstairs getting coffee? Sorry about this breakdown. Bad timing on your part huh. Thanks for the coffee though." Mac self-consciously wiped at her eyes again. She then reached out for the cup from Dick's outstretched hand.

"Don't ever apologize," Dick said setting his own cup down on her tray before coming over to stroke her forehead, and giving her a soft kiss. "No, it's not bad timing on my part. The opposite in fact." He reached over her for the controller. He pushed the nurse call button.

A few minutes later, though it felt much longer to Mac, the nurse came back with a couple pills. They kicked in a few minutes before the PT guy came by to teach her how to use crutches. Dick laughed at her first few crutch attempts. She wasn't the most coordinated person normally and was even less so after a couple strong pain pills. Finally she got the hang of it, mostly.

Finally by mid-afternoon she was released. The nurse wheeled her out to her parents' waiting minivan. Dick walked out with her too.

Dick helped Mac into the van, then handed her the crutches. He leaned in to hug her.

"Thanks Dick. Why don't you call me tonight? I'm going to take a nap when I get home. You might want to do that too."

"We could take one together." Dick whispered it into her ear so her parents couldn't hear, but it still earned a glare from Mac. And a punch too.

"Ouch! Glad to see you've still got some strength left in you." Dick said. "Bye Mr and Mrs. Mackenzie. Feel better Mac. Talk to you later."

Mac watched out the window as Dick walked out to the visitor's parking lot towards his truck. She noticed he passed a dark blue luxury SUV that looked a lot like Madison Sinclair's mom's SUV. Er, her mom. She never knew really what to call Mrs. Sinclair. No, not mom. She had a mom, her mom was sitting in front of her right now, covertly sneaking glances at her, concern showing on her face. Bio mom maybe. But that didn't sound right either. She decided to mentally stick with Mrs. Sinclair.

She was feeling sleepy now anyway. Fortunately Neptune wasn't very big so her dad was pulling into their driveway less than 30 minutes later, including the trip to the drugstore to fill her prescriptions.

Mac woke up a couple hours later stretched out on her parents' big, comfy tan colored micro suede sofa. An Afghan her mom had made covered her. She realized her cell was ringing. She blinked her eyes a couple of times so she could read the caller id display. It was Veronica. She'd half expected it to be Dick. He was probably still napping too.

"Bond."

"Q. How goes it? I tried calling your room first only to find out you've been discharged."

"Got home a couple of hours ago. I'd tell you how it goes but I don't know yet. Can I get back to you on that? I just woke up from a nap. Even Ryan is letting me sleep. Small miracle."

"Sure. Get back to me on that. Sorry I woke you, but I might have a little bit of bad news."

"Do I want to hear this?"

"Probably not. But you should. So okay, from what I could piece together from what you told me in your first shockey, then drugged state and from what I found snooping on your laptop is that our mark is not exactly a nice boy. Cheater is the least of his bad traits. So I have a name on him of course from my client, but I'm thinking it may not be his real one. Shocking I know. Anyway, I did a little surveillance on his dwelling place and it looks like he may have gone underground. Again, not surprising with his bad display of driving yesterday. My sources indicate he drives a black Lincoln MKS. That gels with your description of a big, dark car. They're nice cars, but I'd have thought he'd drive something a bit fancier with all those bucks he stole. Though I guess they teach in embezzlers 101 not to drive flashy cars, draws too much attention."

"Okay, not sure I caught all of that. But you have been a busy little spy girl today. All I can claim is I got tortured by nurses, tormented by PT guys waving crutches in my face and kissed by Dick after my breakdown."

"Um, okay Q. You win hands down. I'm not sure about that last part though. I think my cell cut off. Kissed by Dick you say? After a breakdown?"

"Just on my forehead. It's the drugs talking. Ignore me."

"Done and done. So anyway, we don't know where our suspect is, but he is on to you. We might want to slightly revise our statements from yesterday. I'll think on it. I think you're safe for now with the 'rents though. Just feel better. I don't want to scare you, but I thought you'd want the info anyway. Feel better soon. I can't do this without my Q."

"Bye Bond. And yes, you can do it without me. You're the one with the spy mojo, I just assist now and again. Watch your own back."

Not long after hanging up with V, Mac found herself drifting back to sleep. It was around 8 when she woke up again, the sun had set. The peal of the doorbell woke her up. "Ryan," she shouted, well more like croaked since her voice was hoarse from sleep. "Get the door! Now."

"Do it yourself," came the shout from the direction of the kitchen towards the back of the house. Her mom must have ordered Ryan to do it though because he then ran to the door to open it. "Yes, what do you want?" Ryan asked the guest. Mac sat up slowly and craned her neck a little so she could see who it was. She recognized Dick's shaggy blonde mop right away. He had several inches over her brother.

"Ryan, get out of here. You're so rude. Dick, come in."

"Thanks little man. Hey Macster. There's this killer taco stand not too far from your house so I thought I'd get you a bean burrito and drop by instead of calling. Is that okay? Did I make the wrong call?"

"No! Fork over the burrito and no one will get hurt."

"You're scary."

"I'm hungry. I slept through dinner I think. Definitely lunch. I had a good breakfast though. This surfer dude I know picked up some killer pancakes and lots of coffee for me."

"Sounds like a great guy."

"Eh, he's okay." She smiled goofily.

They talked while Mac ravaged her burrito until there was no trace remaining. Then Dick sorted through her collection of X-box games. He chose Halo. Mac found it hard to find a comfy gaming position with her ribs though. So Dick managed to win. Only once though. The other 3 times she beat him anyway in spite of the distraction.

Her parents went to bed around 10. They kissed her, and politely said good night to Dick too. Her dad couldn't resist pointing out the time to Dick though.

"It's Friday, dad. Plus I've been sleeping all day anyway."

"No, that's okay Mac. I'll go. Talk to you tomorrow." He gently hugged her.

"Can you lock up, Dick?"

"Sure. No problem. Do you need anything else before I leave?"

"No. I'm good. Thanks."

"Sweet dreams Macster."

"You too."

Despite telling her dad she wasn't tired since she'd slept all day, she was back asleep less than an hour after Dick left. It was probably the last pill she took. Anyway, the next thing she knew was that she was hearing a really loud clang of alarm bells in her dream. It shrilled insistently, the realization slowly came that it wasn't a dream but rather the burglar alarm her parents' had installed the year before. She sat up, listening carefully, hoping to see if she could discern what had set off the alarm. She was almost convinced it was accidentally tripped when she thought she heard something out on the front stoop. Footsteps? Just at that moment the alarm stopped, and she heard her dad's heavy tread on the steps.

"Cindy. You okay? Did you go out to the garage or anything?"

"I'm fine. No, I was asleep." She decided not to worry her dad by telling him about the noise out front. That might lead to some questions she didn't want to answer, especially not at 1 AM.

"Well, okay then. Go back to sleep. Probably nothing. Love you Cindy."

"Love you too dad."

Mac thought about the not-so-accident accident yesterday, and of Ryan sleeping upstairs. She decided that things were getting out of hand and she wouldn't risk her family. Almost before she realized what she wanted to do, she was reaching for her cell to text Dick. She thought he was probably asleep, but he'd see it in the morning.

_**Dick...offer still open? Disinfect your bed, roomie**_

She was a little surprised when she heard the ping of the incoming text almost immediately.

_**Macster, my bed is always ready for you. RU okay?**_

_**Why r u still up? Nevermind, it's friday. I'm OK. Cell me. I'll tell u 411 then**_

Her phone rang immediately.

"Mac. What's up? Why did you change your mind? Not that I'm not happy."

"I don't want you to freak, but I got a little scared. The alarm went off tonight and I thought I heard a noise outside. I'm thinking that the penthouse suite at the Grand is pretty secure, right? Key card, all that jazz? I don't want to risk my family's safety too. Hopefully when he discovers I'm gone he'll leave my family alone."

"I'll be there in 15 minutes."

"No, not tonight. My parents would never go for that. I'll have V arrange someone to sit outside tonight and then you can get me around 10 AM. Is that okay?"

"No, not really. But I'll do it. I mean of course I'll get you tomorrow. I just don't like you being vulnerable tonight. It's your call though. See you at 10, roomie. Night Macster. I'd say get some sleep but I'll bet that won't happen."

"Thanks again Dick."

"No problem."

They hung up and Mac texted V with the latest saga. Fortunately the pixie spy was still awake and it didn't take long for her to rope Weevil into giving up a few more hours of sleep to watch over the Mackenzie's house. Knowing that Weevil would keep them safe, Mac wondered what rooming with Logan and Dick would be like before she fell back asleep. She'd soon find out.


	4. Chapter 4--Roomies

**_Author's note: Thanks for continuing to read this story. I love hearing from the readers who continue to review each chapter. Thank you so much. And I'd love to hear from those who haven't yet reviewed, too! Enjoy..._**

**_Disclaimer-And I still do not own the rights to these characters. Once again, that honor falls to the great Rob Thomas! _**

**Chapter 4-Roomies**

Mac woke up the next morning to the sounds of her parents and younger brother having breakfast in the next room. She was still stiff, sore, and her knee was aching but she felt better than the day before.

Her mom had put a bowl of cereal, a glass of soy milk and a cup of coffee on the table in front her. Slowly she sat up and reached over for the cereal bowl. She groaned a little as her ribs protested. Glancing over at the clock on the wall, she saw it was almost 9. Dick would be there in an hour and she still wasn't sure how to tell her parents she would be crashing at a boy's house. Well worse than that, a boy's hotel room. Truth wasn't always the best policy, especially with parents involved. She decided she'd just tell them that Dick was taking her back to her apartment. Hopefully her mom wouldn't come by with food or anything. She'd just have to have Parker cover for her. That should work. She'd just say she thought it would be more comfortable to recover in her own bed.

"Oh Cindy, you're up. How are you feeling, sweetie? Need anything? Here's the pill bottle and some water." Her mom sat down beside her on the couch.

"Thanks mom. I'm okay." She stopped when she saw her mom's disbelieving expression. "Well not okay, but better. Listen, I was thinking maybe I'd just go back to my place today. Dick's coming by. He can take me there, help me up the stairs. I'll just lay low a few days. Sleep in my own bed."

"I'd rather have you here. But it's up to you. I'll bring you by some food later, stock up the fridge for you and Parker. I'd say chicken noodle soup but you wouldn't eat that. I'll make a couple of those vegan freak ball dishes you like."

"Great. Thanks mom. No need to bring by any food though. I have plenty of stuff in the fridge."

Her mom had evidently laid down the law to her dad because he didn't say anything negative about her going back to her own place. Fortunately he didn't know her real destination.

At exactly 10 AM the doorbell rang.

Once again Ryan opened the door for Dick. He was his usual welcoming self. "You again. Cindy's still on the couch. She hasn't moved at all except to go to the bathroom."

"Thanks Ryan. Macster! You ready there, roo..."

"Dick!" Mac quickly cut in before he could finish that thought. "Yes, I'm ready to go back to my place. Thanks so much for offering me a ride. I'll probably need some help getting up there though." She gave him a glare that clearly communicated 'just play along with me here Dick.'

"No problem. Just call me your personal taxi service. Point me to your luggage, miss, and we'll get on our way." Dick obviously got the message.

"I travel light these days. Just my cell, the drugs and maybe a few more games. Bond still has my laptop. Mom, Dad, I'm leaving now. See you guys later. Thanks. Love you. Let's go Dick." Mac yelled. She gestured to Dick to grab her crutches which were lying on the floor next to the couch. He retrieved them and stood off to the side while she slowly got up off the couch, moving like the 80 year old that she felt like. He handed her the crutches and hovered near by. Mac impatiently gestured for him to lead the way.

Outside Mac noticed her lime green bug sitting on the driveway. "Dick, where's your truck?"

"I thought it would be easier for you to get in and out of your tiny little car than my big monster."

Mac laughed thinking about Dick trying to squeeze his lanky frame in her car. "I can't imagine you trying to drive my car."

"Well, get in and you won't have to imagine it. You'll have a front row seat."

Dick helped Mac lower herself into the seat, and then stowed the crutches in the back seat. Then she enjoyed watching Dick squeeze and squish himself into the driver's seat. His head brushed the roof. It was every bit as comical as she'd pictured.

Mac was relieved when they pulled up to the Neptune Grand a short time later. Dick got her settled in his room. The maid had been there and changed the sheets while he'd gone to pick her up. Dick had also made sure there were extra pillows on the bed too. Best of all, he'd also gone out the day before to get another X-box for his bedroom, because the X-box in the living room just wasn't enough.

Dick loaded Halo into the machine while Mac stretched out across the foot of the bed and prepared to kick his ass once again.

After the 3rd time losing to Mac, Dick suggested they take a break and order up room service. A $15 salad for Mac, and a $20 burger and fries for Dick, but since it was charged to the room and she wasn't paying for it, she didn't care.

When Dick and Mac had both finished their lunch, they just laid side by side in the oversized king bed. Dick had his arm casually slung around Mac, who had her head on his chest.

"So, I had a weird experience in the parking lot of Neptune Memorial yesterday afternoon after you and your parents just pulled away. Guess who I ran into?"

Mac thought she knew what he was going to say but decided to play stupid anyway to buy some time while she figured out how much, if any, she wanted to tell Dick about her birth. "Who?"

"Madison Sinclair's mom. Here's the weird thing, she seemed to know about your accident and was quite concerned. She was just walking back to her SUV and caught up to me on the way to my truck. I didn't know you knew Madison's mom. You guys were never friends, were you?"

"Hell no." Mac was indignant at the idea of ever having been friends with Madison Sinclair. "Never."

"So how does Mrs. Sinclair know you?"

"I met her once. Junior year, Madison's birthday party. Veronica and I crashed her party. The next day I realized I'd left my purse there so I went by the Sinclair's house to pick it up. Mrs. Sinclair was there."

"You just met once? Okay. Guess you made quite an impression. I can see that, actually. You always make an impression on me. Anyway, she saw me walk out with you to your car so she figured I'd be able to fill her in on what happened."

"How did she hear that I was in the hospital anyway?"

"Not sure. But the Sinclairs have connections all over Neptune. Word gets around I guess."

"Oh joy. This really isn't something I want getting out." Mac thought about it for a second. She decided that she actually wanted someone other than just V to know the truth. It was lonely carrying something like this around by yourself. And more than that, she didn't just want to tell someone, she wanted to tell Dick specifically. "Um Dick, actually I met Mrs. Sinclair twice. Can I tell you a secret? One that other than Veronica, no one else knows. I'm serious, you can't tell anyone."

"You can tell me anything Macster. I promise I won't tell anyone. It's not like you don't know my dark past. Though I guess it's not exactly secret."

"Madison Sinclair is living the life I was supposed to live."

Dick gave her a blank look. "What does that mean?"

"I was switched at birth with Madison. The Mackenzie's aren't my biological parents. The mistake was discovered when we were 4. My parents, uh the Mackenzies that is, don't know that I know the truth. I asked V to do a little digging junior year and she discovered they'd won a million dollar settlement from Neptune Memorial in 1992. I guess sending the wrong baby home with the wrong family is a costly mistake for a hospital. So needless to say I didn't enjoy my stay there yesterday. And I know my parents didn't enjoy me being there either. We've pretty much avoided hospitals altogether for almost 16 years. Anyway, like I mentioned, they have no clue that I know the truth. And it has to stay that way."

"Oh Mac. Wow. I don't know what to say right now." Dick hugged her a little tighter, still making sure he wasn't doing anything to cause her more pain though. He gently kissed her on her head. "That couldn't have been an easy thing to find out. Do you ever wish you didn't know?"

"No. Er yes. Well, sometimes I wish I didn't know the truth. V tried to talk me out of hearing the results of what she'd learned. I pretty much always knew I didn't really belong in the Mackenzie house. I just thought I was adopted. Switched at birth? That thought never occurred to me. I mean that only happens in movies and on angsty TV shows." Mac closed her eyes. Dick made a comfy pillow.

"Sleepy?"

"Yes. I'm fading fast," Mac said through a yawn. "And this is an energy draining conversation anyway." She tried to adjust her position a little so she wouldn't fall asleep on Dick, though she found the sound of his heartbeat oddly comforting. But Dick held her down.

"Don't move. You can fall asleep on me."

Mac was a little surprised when Dick didn't follow that up with a suggestive comment or even an inappropriate hand gesture. A serious side to Dick, alert the media, she thought to herself.

When Mac woke up later that afternoon her head was resting on a real pillow. She found she missed that other pillow, the Dick pillow she'd fallen asleep on. She was now alone on the king sized bed.

"Dick?" She called out. No answer.

Her hand reached out, searching the bed for the remote control. She was surprised to find a couple of books within easy reach. They were the ones she kept on her bedside table at her apartment. The first one on the stack was The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin. It was one of her all time favorite books. It also made her think of Lauren Sinclair, Madison's younger sister who of course was her biological sister. Mac had only met Lauren that one time when she was a junior in high school, but she liked to think they'd bonded over their shared love of that book. Underneath that book was another of her favorites, JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. She grabbed another pillow and put it behind her bed and cracked open The Catcher in the Rye.

Thinking too much about the Sinclairs hurt and she decided she hurt too bad physically to heap emotional pain of top of everything. Soon she got lost in Holden Caulfield and his general contempt for humanity as a whole. The perfect escape.

"Hey Macster, you're up."

Startled, Mac looked up from her book to see Dick standing in the doorway.

"I found a couple of books lying on the bed next to me. So you've been a busy little beev-, um busy guy, I see." Mac realized she'd been about to say Beaver, so she quickly tried to substitute another word hoping Dick wouldn't notice what she'd been about to say.

"I thought you might get bored and want some reading material. I hear that's a popular activity for the nerd set."

"Thank you. I think. At least thank you for getting my books. Calling me a nerd though, you lose points for that."

"I'm just teasing you. Mainly. You're welcome. Parker helped me gather some of your things together. The bag is in the closet. I'll get it for you if you'd like."

Mac nodded, so Dick crossed the vast room to collect the duffel bag that held her things. "Thanks," she said as the bag was placed beside her. Parker had packed several tee shirts and a few pairs of shorts too. Mac wasn't sure how long she'd be staying at the Neptune Grand, but the clothes would be enough to get her started at least. At the bottom of the bag there was also a skimpy pink nightgown in there that did not belong to her. She'd have to have a talk with Parker about that.

"Mac. It's okay you know."

"What's okay?"

"To say _**his**_ name. Or nickname in this case. I've heard that expression before, busy little beaver. I can hear it again. I'm reminded of him at least a million times a day anyway."

"Okay," Mac said softly. "I didn't want to cause you more pain."

"Well, it's too late for that anyway. Everything changed the night of graduation. And, well...Shit! Enough of this talk. I do not want to talk about this now. You know what we need?"

"What, Dick?"

"A party."

"Are you crazy? That is not what we need at all."

"Not a big one. Just a gathering of some of our closest buds. No big deal. Just Logan, Ronnie, Wallace, maybe a few Pi Sigs. Even Parker, if you want. Or not. Maybe some of your nerd squad. But that's it. Fifteen people max. I promise."

"No more than fifteen!"

"You've lived here, what, three hours and you're already trying to run things? Okay, okay bossy. I said no more than fifteen. I meant that."

"I have my doubts."

"We could have a bet then."

"You're on. How about loser does the winner's laundry for a month? Do you even know how to do laundry?"

"A monkey could do it," Dick said.

"Good, maybe we can get a monkey to teach you then."

"Ha ha ha. Okay, smart ass, we're on."

Less than three hours later the party was going strong. Mac was stretched out on the couch in the suite's living room, her knee propped up on a pillow. Veronica was sitting next to her. They were appraising the surroundings.

"I lost count at 33," Veronica announced.

"Hey Superfly!" Wallace said walking over to the couch where they were stationed. "Mac! How are you doing? I heard you were laid up. Parker told me the whole story. What I want to know though is why are you here of all places? Did you disinfect Dick's bed yet?"

"Well V, make that 34." Mac said before turning to Wallace and smiling. "The maid actually disinfected the whole room before I even moved in. Such great service here at the Grand. And room service, you can't beat that. What do you think the odds are of me getting Dick to wear a white nurses uniform? Bet it would make those hairy legs look sexy! Or maybe I could get him a maid's uniform to wear while he does my laundry. Gotta show off those sexy hairy legs of his."

"Man Mac, you're in worse shape than I thought. Those drugs making you loopy?"

"Are you saying finding Dick's legs sexy are a side effect of the Vicodin?"

"I'd say that," Veronica cut in. "They should put "may cause delusional thinking and visions" warning in the drug information leaflet."

"Speaking of your sexy legged nurse, looks like he's doing more than just nursing a beer." Wallace added.

Mac followed Wallace's gaze to across the room where Dick was standing and talking with Logan and Chip Diller.

"I see your point. This is like the 4th beer he's chugged in an hour. Well, at least he's at home."

"You've been keeping track of your roomie then huh?"

"Always the detective there, V! I usually require mass alcohol to handle all the Frat life in the room, but that's not an option now. So I've got to amuse myself somehow. At least Parker packed my shirt though."

"Ah yes, Macster, can't go to a party without your trusty "Ask Me About My STD" tee."

"Not when I know Chip will be there."

Mac, Wallace and Veronica were still making witty observations on all of Dick's Greek buddies when he caught Mac's eye and decided to come over and join them. "Ladies, and Wallace. Whatcha talking about? World peace? Sustainable resources?"

"Your sexy hairy legs actually. And trying to guess which STD each of your frat buddies have. I'm going to say Chip is carrying around a vicious case of crabs." Veronica snarked. Mac blushed a bit at the first part of what she said however.

Dick turned to Mac and smiled real big. "Sexy legs huh? You like me, you really like me."

"Don't get too far ahead of yourself there. We decided it was just side effects from the pain meds," Wallace couldn't resist adding.

"You realize of course that you lost our bet. Better start stocking up on laundry detergent. I prefer the kind without perfumes. All organic in fact. No drier sheets either. Do you have a good iron? I don't want to see any wrinkles."

"I'm not sure you won."

"Oh come on, Dick. Even you know counting. Isn't that a requirement for a business major? You lost and you know it."

"Well, that's okay. They have great laundry services here. You'll be looking good, Macster."

"No. That was not our deal. YOU have to do the laundry. By yourself. It'll be good for you. Like your own private Home Economics class."

The great laundry debate went on a little longer, but Dick knew he'd lost and he was just going to have to man up and fulfill his end of the bet.

A couple hours later Mac could barely keep her eyes open. And her knee was really aching. "I'm heading off to the bedroom guys. Sorry. Good night! Wallace, glad you came. V, see you in the morning? I'm glad I don't have a long commute." Suddenly a scary thought occurred to her. "Dick. There better not be any one um partying on your bed!" She grabbed her crutches and headed towards the 2nd bedroom located right off the living room.

Dick said a quick good bye to Ronnie and Wallace and turned to follow Mac. "No. It's safe. Everyone knows the only one allowed to do the horizontal tango on my bed is me and my chosen partner. The bed has been quite lonely lately I must say."

"Okay," Mac said drily. "Thanks for sharing that tidbit."

"No problem!"

Mac gratefully sank onto the bed and tried to find a semi-comfortable position. Dick closed the door behind him and laid down next to her.

"Sorry to be a party pooper. But I am pooped. You don't have to stay here with me though. It's not like it'll be worth your while."

"It's already worth my while, Ghostworld."

"Ghostworld. You haven't called me that in awhile."

"If the name fits."

"Yeah, you know something about that, huh, Dick?"

"Touche."

Dick settled down in the bed next to Mac, lying close but not touching her. She felt her eyes getting heavier until she was almost fully pulled into sleep. However, right before completely succumbing she thought she heard Dick say "I'm sorry. I should've done more to keep you safe. From everything."

**TBC...**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Author's Note: This chapter took a little longer than I expected, mainly because hubby was off this week and I had to fight him for the computer. I really need a laptop! Anyway, thanks for reading. And I'd love it if you would leave a review. And for those of you who leave a review after every chapter, thank you thank you! I really appreciate it. Hope you enjoy..._**

**_Disclaimer-Nope. Still don't own any of these characters. They all belong to Rob Thomas. I also don't own any of the games I've mentioned in here either.  
_**

**Chapter 5: Bang**

Mac's Sunday started out with a bang—literally.

The door to the bedroom was opened so suddenly and enthusiastically that it banged against the wall. Mac was startled awake. Dick stood framed in the doorway with dripping hair, a wet wetsuit and a mischievous grin on his face.

"Hey sleepyhead! You're burning daylight. It's almost 10 AM."

Mac sat up and blinked a couple of times to bring Dick into focus. "That's hardly burning daylight by my estimation."

"Maybe your estimation needs work then, you night owl."

"So how were the waves? I guess you dragged Logan with you? I didn't even hear you get up."

"I slept on the couch. I did sneak in to get changed though. You didn't move a muscle. And yes, Logan went with me. I don't think Ronnie liked me stealing him from her though."

Mac lifted her eyebrow at Dick's last statement. "Oh really? Interesting development on the on again/off again Logan and Veronica chronicles then."

"I guess my prediction was closer than yours. You can pay up by letting me buy you breakfast. How about the Neptune cafe? That's the place with those _yummy_ vegan pancakes." Dick made a face when mentioning vegan and pancakes in the same sentence. "Are you up to going out somewhere?"

"I think so. I actually feel decent today. So, I lose and you buy me breakfast? Is that how things work in 09er circles? I can get used to that. I underestimated those two I guess. I really thought V would resist Logan's obvious charms for at least a month until their epicness drew them back together once again."

"You forget, I live with Logan. I know more about those two than you probably ever will. Consider yourself lucky."

"Oh I do, I do. But you know, just because V spent the night here in Logan's room doesn't mean they're back together per se."

"Um Mac, I spent the night on the couch remember? They are definitely back together. Like back together together. Several times back together that is."

"Okay, got it! Thanks. I don't need to know any more than that. I don't need you to draw me a map or anything. Let's just get breakfast now while I still have my appetite."

"You know Macster, if you're in danger of losing your appetite I can help you with that."

"By making me lose it faster?"

"No, by making you build it up again. Lot's of um exercise, if you get my drift."

"Yeah, you're not hard to read there Dick. I'm fine. I can certainly manage to attack a stack of pancakes. Let's just go. I don't want to be here if V and Logan decide to do any more getting back together."

"Yet more proof that you're the smart one."

"Yes, I am. Now if we're going to go, I need to get dressed. Why don't you get out of your wetsuit and shower while I get ready. And yes, I can dress myself. I don't need help."

"How'd you know I was going to offer my services? Though I am slightly better at helping the ladies get undressed rather than dressed."

"Yes, I've heard those stories. You're not helping your cause right now."

Dick retrieved Mac's bag and placed it beside her on the bed. "I see you chose to sleep in your shirt rather than that sexy nightgown."

"That sexy nightgown doesn't even belong to me. I prefer tee shirts and shorts to sleep in."

"We'll have to work on that."

"Just go shower." Mac shoved him towards the door to the en-suite bathroom and sat at the edge of the bed to start the agonizing process of getting dressed.

Mac smiled when she heard the shower turn on. She was trying hard to not picture Dick soaping up under the spray of the hot shower. Her smile quickly faded though when she began to take the tee shirt off. Even though she was feeling so much better, the act of undressing still caused some pain. She took as deep of a breath as her ribs let her (which wasn't very deep) and mentally counted one..two...three. She tugged her shirt up and over her head. Fortunately putting the other shirt on was marginally easier. She decided to just leave on the khaki shorts she was still wearing from yesterday. Wiped out and eager to relieve the pain, Mac curled up on her right side.

Dick was whistling when he came out of the foggy bathroom with just a white towel wrapped around his hips. He saw Mac curled up on her side and frowned. "Macster, you okay?" He quickly crossed the room and gently sat down beside her.

"Better now. Dressing sucks. And before you say anything, undressing isn't any better."

"Me? Say something so crass? You're right, I resemble that remark. We don't have to go. I can just order room service again."

"No. I'm better. I don't want to waste any of this effort. Besides you even showered for the occasion."

"Yes, Macster, my monthly shower. Enjoy this monumental event."

The Neptune Cafe was just a short drive away from the hotel. It was across the street from dog beach. They chose a booth by the window. It was Mac's first time there and she was surprised by the eclectic menu, especially all their vegan selections.

"Logan and I come here a lot after surfing." Dick said answering her unasked question.

"Oh yeah, it's a good location. I thought you bought a lot of vegan girlfriends here or something."

"Nope. My overnight visitors don't usually stick around long enough for breakfast."

"Except the ex-Mrs. Casablancas I presume."

"Right, my brief marriage. I wondered when you'd bring that up."

"Those vows lasted what 3 days?"

"A week. She had those freaky feet. I can't be married to anyone with freaky feet. I've seen your feet. Definitely not freaky."

"Oh well that's a relief. Glad to know you like my feet."

The arrival of Mac's pancakes and Dick's omelet put an end to any further discussion of freaky feet. It was a nice place, good view of the ocean, great pancakes, and she had to admit there was something between her and Dick. She felt comfortable with him. They could easily go back and forth between teasing each other and discussing serious topics like her being switched at birth and of course the ghost of Cassidy. Maybe it was natural that they would be drawn together, her and Dick. It was hard for anyone else to understand that they couldn't just hate Cassidy. There was more to him than just a survivor of Woody's horrific abuse, more than just a rapist, more than just a mass murderer. Yet he was all of those things too and no one could just forget all the pain he caused others. Mac certainly didn't forget. Dick didn't either. But they both saw the sweet, eager to please side of him too.

After they had finished their breakfast and Dick paid, neither of them wanted to go back to the hotel. Dick drove to the Neptune boardwalk and parked near by. They sat down on a bench facing the ocean, watching the waves roll in and back out again. It was so peaceful Mac felt herself getting sleepy. She yawned and put her head against Dick's chest. She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew she was back in the passengers seat of her car. Dick came back shortly with her crutches.

"You're awake now. Thought you might need these. I like napping on the beach too. It's my temple really, the beach."

"I can see why you love it here. Sorry I keep falling asleep on you. I must be so boring these days."

"You're never boring, Ghostworld."

Dick drove them back to the hotel. When they got up to the penthouse suite Veronica and Logan were in the living room finishing up their own breakfast. Trays littered the coffee table, sharing space with beer bottles and other remnants of last night's party.

"Hey Logan. Hi V. I think we need a little girl talk later, hmm?" Mac said, giving Veronica a pointed look.

"Hi guys. Well, I think I'm in trouble." Veronica replied back, winking at Logan.

"Why don't you and Logan finish eating, then he and I will set up the Xbox and you ladies can have your girl talk in my room."

"I'm done. Come on Mac-attack, let's skedaddle into Dick's room to start that gab fest. His bed is disinfected, right?"

"Yes, it is. I slept there last night. Alone."

They went into Dick's bedroom and Veronica flopped onto the big, comfy bed and made room for Mac to lie next to her.

"So you and Logan, huh?"

"What no small talk first? Yes, I guess we're back together."

"According to Dick you guys got back together several times last night."

"And once today, too."

"I knew you guys wouldn't stay apart forever."

"Well I didn't know that. Last year, with she _who-shall-remain-nameless_, well I honestly didn't think I'd ever forgive Logan. But things change, life intervenes. Your best girl friend gets hit by a car on a case you dragged her into, and next thing you know you're between the sheets of your ex-boyfriends bed and it's like everything that came before just obliterated into nothingness and it's like you never broke up in the first place."

"Well, don't hold anything back there, V. I'm glad you guys are back together though. You and Logan are so much better with each other than apart. Now about the other thing you just mentioned. Just stop it. I know you're feeling guilt about the whole being hit by a car thing. That is not your fault. The sole responsibility for that action lies with the driver."

"I dragged you into all this in the first place though. You would be safe in your own bed now, all in one piece, not broken, and especially not shacking up with Dick if I hadn't begged you to work your techie mojo on my latest case. A simple cheating case, yeah right."

"First of all Mars, with you no case is ever simple. I know that. I've known that since our illustrious partnership started back at Neptune High. So I hardly went into this blind to the possible dangers. And second of all? Shacking up? Not hardly. Just rooming with a friend. And I'm not broken. I'll heal."

"I just wish you weren't hurt in the first place."

"Me too. But we can't go back in time," Mac interrupted.

"But anyway, back to Dick. Friends you say? Wallace and I are just friends. You and Wallace are just friends. I don't see you and Dick as just friends. And while he isn't exactly my favorite person I do give you guys my stamp of approval. Which I know is exactly what you were waiting for."

"Yeah, that's what was holding us back." Mac said dryly. "I'll let Dick know it's all decided now. Wait a minute here, how did we get so off topic? The topic was you and Logan. Not me and Dick."

"Ah, so you admit there is a you and Dick."

"I did not admit anything."

Just then the door opened and Dick popped his head in. "I hope I'm interrupting a pillow fight."

"Oh good idea," Veronica said chucking a pillow at him. He just managed to duck and the pillow sailed into the living room.

"You throw like a girl, Mars. I would have nailed him."

"You throw more like a girl than I do."

"Okay ladies, this can easily be settled with a little mud wrestling," Logan shouted from the living room. He thought it was his duty to mediate.

Veronica and Mac got up off the bed and made their way back into the living room. Veronica hid a pillow behind her back and snuck up on Logan. She brought the pillow out from behind her back and pummeled him with it. "Ouch, Ronnie! Truce, I call truce." Logan said laughing. He held up his hands like he was about to surrender and then grabbed the pillow out of his girlfriend's hands and launched his own attack.

Dick and Mac exchanged a smile while watching their best friends wrestling. Finally Dick intervened. "As much as I'm enjoying the show, though it would be even better if it was between Ronnie and Mac, how about we continue this battle through another medium. I've queued up _Grand Theft Auto IV_."

The four friends sat on the big penthouse couch and started their Xbox gaming marathon. They went through several games in the vast collection, including _Grand Theft Auto_, _Halo 3_, and _Dark Sector_. The hours ticked by and it was after 5 before everyone started getting hungry.

"Let's order lunch," Logan said. "Breakfast was hours ago."

"Lunch? I think it's way past that time now. More like dinner." Dick argued.

"Well dinner if we were in our 80s. Early bird special. Linner maybe? Dunch? They have a term for brunch, but not a lunch, dinner hybrid." Logan said.

"Let's just order food guys. We can argue semantics later."

"Ah, my Q. Always the voice of reason. I want a burger and fries," Veronica said.

"Salad with oil and vinegar and black bean burger, no bun."

"Make that 2 burgers and fries."

Dick placed the order, while Logan and Veronica decided to freshen up in Logan's room.

"I think I'll shower too." Mac announced. "I feel so gross now. They said it would take what, 45 minutes for the food? Just enough time to feel like a human again." Mac noticed Dick's leer and tossed a pillow at him. "Stop picturing me naked!"

"You did it earlier when I was showering. Admit it."

"Nope! Not going to admit that. You can't make me."

"Do you need any help?"

"I think I can manage thanks."

"No, Mac, I'm being serious now. Do you need any help, you know with your knee?"

"Oh yeah. No, I'll figure it out. Thanks though."

Mac slowly made her way into Dick's en suite bathroom and was surprised to see a shower seat in the shower stall. Dick was constantly amazing her with how thoughtful he could be. Back in high school, or even last year really, she never would have believed this side of Dick existed. He made a good nurse after all. Who knew?

Mac undressed and sat down in the shower. She was enjoying the hot spray of the water when she heard something going on in the other room. She couldn't tell exactly what at first because of the sound of the water beating down on her. But her spidey sense was tingling. Something didn't seem right to her, but she couldn't exactly explain why she felt that way. Maybe she was still a little jumpy after her not-so _accident _accident. Then two sounds registered dimly in her mind, two bangs. The bang of the bedroom door and a gun shot.

"Dick!" Mac screamed.

TBC...


	6. Chapter 6--Room Service

**_Author's note: Well, this was by far the longest chapter. I tried to accomplish a lot in this one. We'll see if I succeeded. Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoy. This will most likely be the 2nd to last chapter. Though originally this was only going to be a 3 or 4 chapter story and that plan quickly changed...I love reading those reviews._  
**

**_Obligatory disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they all belong to Rob Thomas.  
_**

**Chapter 6—Room Service**

Dick sat in front of the TV waiting for his burger and Mac's black bean vegan crap that was recently added to the room service menu per his suggestion. Being rich had its advantages. He and Logan spent so much money at the Neptune Grand that when they had a suggestion the management listened. Dick idly wondered how things would be different had Mac grown up a Sinclair. He tried—and failed—to imagine Mac as spoiled as Madison. No, Mac would essentially be Mac no matter who raised her, and no matter what her name was. He couldn't imagine Mac as anything other than smart, sweet, sassy, snarky and sexy. There were probably other adjectives, especially ones that didn't begin with "s" but that was a good start.

Dick hoped Mac was okay in the shower. He'd had the concierge get a shower seat for her so at least she wouldn't fall down and hurt herself worse. He started picturing Mac soaping her wet, naked body. He couldn't help but go there, he was a guy after all. He felt (not so) little Dick growing hard. He was just thinking about getting up to go into his bathroom in hopes of making his fantasy into reality, or more likely going in there under the guise of checking on her, when he heard a knock at the door.

_**That was quick**_, Dick thought to himself. He crossed the room to let the delivery guy in, only when he opened the door, he was greeted by a guy in the tan and black Neptune Grand uniform but instead of pushing a rolling cart, the guy held a snub nose .38 pistol. Dick knew something about guns having grown up with them.

_**Oh shit**_ was his first coherent thought. _**Oh shit he's here for Mac **_was his second and scarier thought.

"Mac," Dick screamed.

Everything happened so quickly. In movies people made it seemed like time slowed down but to him it seemed to go by in fast forward. He remembered running after the guy with the gun who was headed towards his bedroom. The door slammed opened. Dick launched himself towards the guy but missed. He turned towards Dick, the gun in his hand aimed right at him. The guy pulled the trigger and Dick felt something brush his shoulder. The fact that it was the bullet grazing him didn't register at first. Mac's frantic shout did.

"Dick!" He heard Mac's scream coming from the bathroom.

Dick couldn't let the guy reach his target. He launched himself towards the guy again, this time knocking him down. The noise had alerted Logan and Veronica who came charging in to Dick's room. Veronica had had the wherewithal to remember her taser. Mac stood in the doorway, hair dripping wet, clothes hastily put back on, standing on one leg, taking in the whole scene.

Logan gently nudged Dick over so he could take over pinning the gunman down. Dick rolled over again after Logan had pushed him off the perp, landing on his right shoulder. "Ahh." He screamed when his shoulder made contact with the floor.

"Mac, call 911." Veronica said turning towards Mac. Then she knelt down beside Logan and aimed her taser against the gun man's chest. "This is for my client." She tased him. "This is for pissing me off." She tased him again. "And this is for hurting my friend, you asshole." She tased him yet again, then turned so she could knee him in the groin. He moaned a little in response.

"Dick?" Mac said looking concerned. She was on the phone with 911 dispatch. "Yes, a guy with a gun pushed his way into our suite...Yes, Neptune Grand...I don't know, I was in the other room...No, I don't think so. Wait, can you hang on?" Mac said into the phone. "Dick, are you hurt?"

"I think I might be." he replied. "I think I was shot."

"Oh Dick, no. Okay, sit down." She limped over to Dick gently pushing him down after he'd been just about to get up. She turned her attention back to the phone call. "Okay, I'm back. We need an ambulance too. Someone was shot...The shoulder, upper arm area I think...Yes, the penthouse suite of the Neptune Grand. Top floor...Okay. Good. Thank you."

Mac hung up the phone and focused all of her attention on Dick. She gingerly sat down beside Dick on the floor, then gently guided him so he was lying down, placing his head in her lap. "Okay, I need to push up your sleeve. I need to see where you were shot." She lifted the short sleeve of his tee shirt up, wincing a bit when he let out a moan before biting his lip. "Sorry. Okay good." Mac took a couple shallow breathes to keep from passing out, she really could not stand the sight of blood. "It's not that bad. Really. Just a flesh wound." It was bleeding profusely, but it wasn't gushing or squirting out or anything. Of course it didn't take much blood to make Mac feel queasy. But this was Dick, and he needed her now.

"Just a flesh wound? Isn't that what they say in the movies when blood is gushing out every where?" Dick said trying to laugh and grimacing instead.

"True. But in your case that's exactly what it is. A flesh wound. Just a graze. They'll slap a band aid on it and get you on your way."

"Doesn't being shot do anything for my street cred?"

"You don't have any street cred Casablancas." Logan joked. He noticed the gun man he was holding down was about to move and a sudden feeling of rage surged through him. He lifted the guy's head and banged it down hard on the floor. How dare that guy come barging into his room. And more important, how dare that guy hurt his friends.

"Okay Dick, I need you to raise your arm up over your head," Mac whispered in his ear. "V, could you go to that chest of drawers over there and grab one of Dick's tees? I need something to staunch the bleeding."

"Not one of my shirts," Dick complained. His shoulder was really starting to hurt, he thought starting a fight with Mac might help distract him.

"Why not? It's your blood, it should be your shirt."

"I love my tee shirt collection. I'm a connoisseur of fine sexually explicit tee shirts, I can't let you taint my collection."

"You can afford to buy a new one if we can't get the blood out. Man up there Casablancas." Logan once again felt the need to mediate.

"Some of them are custom made."

"We'll only use one that was store bought then. Dick, keep your arm up." Mac chastised.

Veronica selected a shirt and threw it towards Mac. It was brown with green lettering and said "Freelance Gynecologist."

"Perfect," Mac said catching the shirt.

"Not that one. It's one of my favorites."

"Oh come on. It's brown, that way the blood won't stain it. And you're getting blood everywhere. Quit whining. You took good care of me. It's my turn now so shut the hell up, and let me stop your bleeding."

"Is it weird that I'm kind of turned on now?"

"YES!" Logan, Veronica and Mac shouted simultaneously.

Dick was joking, he wasn't feeling his usual horny self, but he did like the take charge side of Mac. He wondered where else she let that side of her personality shine. The bedroom, he hoped.

The pressure Mac was exerting on his arm was quite painful. He knew it was necessary to stop the blood, but it was driving him crazy. He tried to lift his arm up like Mac asked but he just couldn't do it. It wouldn't go up that far at all.

"Dammit Dick, would you keep your arm up! How many times do I have to tell you that? It needs to be above your heart." Mac was yelling now.

"I can't do it Macster. Lifting my arm up hurts too fucking bad. Stop with the torture dude! I really cannot get it as high up as you want it."

Mac smirked and said "that's what she said."

"I can't believe you said that."

"I can't believe you didn't say that."

"I guess it's the blood loss."

"Guess so. Anyway, that was such a Dick-like response, I had to say it. Sorry. Okay, anyway, if you can't lift your arm up then we'll just have to forget that then. I do have to keep applying pressure though. I know it hurts, I'm sorry. We've got to stop the bleeding." Mac was trying to distract Dick, she knew he normally couldn't resist a good "that's what she said," joke, though they did not come as naturally to her.

"I'm calling you Nurse Rachet from now on."

"Oh I like it!" Mac grinned.

"We'll have to get you a sexy nurses outfit."

"Funny. I just said the same thing about you the other day."

"Somehow I think you'd look better in it than me."

"Probably."

Just then the paramedics rushed in with the sheriff and two deputies right behind them. Sheriff Van Lowe and Deputy Sacks relieved Veronica and Logan of their perp sitting duties. Veronica tried to discretely hide her taser, Logan stood protectively in front of her to further obscure Deputy Sack's and Vinnie's view. Deputy D'Amato saw, but didn't comment. He knelt down beside Dick. Mac scooted away from Dick to make more room for the paramedics who were now continuing her efforts to stop the bleeding.

Mac heard Dick explain with a lot of colorful language that he couldn't lift his arm up. She studied him. He was really pale, more so than usual. She was worried he was going into shock. He'd lost a fair amount of blood. Fortunately, even given that, as far as gun shot wounds went this was still pretty minor. Mac knew the gun was meant for her. She most likely wouldn't have been lucky enough to escape with just a graze. No, if it wasn't for Dick stopping the gunman she would be a whole lot worse off than she was now. She'd probably be dead.

Just then Keith Mars burst into the suite.

"Dad." Veronica exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I got a call from my security guard contact that shots were reported coming from this room. And I also may or may not have heard something on the police radio I may or may not have in the apartment. What the hell went on? Is everyone okay? Are you okay Veronica? Mac?"

"Yes, I'm fine dad. I might have taken a case this year that may have gotten a little dicey. The perp who the sheriff of this fine county is arresting right now, charged in here with a gun. He was after Mac but it was Dick who stopped him."

"Well, I think there's a lot to get settled here," Vinnie said directing his comment towards Veronica. "First the paramedics will transport Mr. Casablancas to the hospital. Deputy Sacks and I will escort our gunman here to lock up. And you Veronica will need to come down to the station to answer some questions. I guess you'll be coming too Keith? Deputy D'Amato, I need you to go to Neptune Memorial so you can question Dick after they look at his arm."

"Can I go to the hospital with Dick?" Mac asked.

"Me too," Logan added.

"Okay, Deputy D'Amato can question you guys there too. But not you Veronica. I want you down at the station."

"Oh and I thought we were friends, Vinnie."

"We are. You should see how I treat people who aren't my friends."

Keith took Vinnie aside to discuss logistics. It was decided that Logan would ride with Dick in the ambulance and Veronica would drive Mac in her car. Keith would follow the girls in Mac's car and then personally escort his daughter to the sheriff's station afterward.

After watching the ambulance containing Dick and Logan pull away, sirens blaring, Veronica guided Mac to her Saturn SUV. She drove in silence waiting for Mac to say something. Anything.

Mac just looked out the window. She was mentally drained. Her knee was really hurting. She wasn't supposed to walk on it but with the excitement of the gunman in their room she didn't think to grab her crutches until much later. She was paying for it now. But maybe that was exactly what she deserved. It was her fault Dick was on his way to the hospital. She was the reason he was shot. Tears made their way down her cheek. Mac really hoped V didn't see her crying. This was twice in 2 days that she was crying. She never cried. At least this time Dick wasn't around to see her tears.

Once again she was crying over a Casablancas. Before her breakdown Friday, the last time she'd cried was when Cassidy left her naked and alone in their room at the Neptune Grand the night of her high school graduation. She had been huddled naked, wrapped in a shower curtain. Bad things happened to her when she showered at the Neptune Grand. There was probably a lesson to be learned there. And of course now over a year later here she was crying over the other Casablancas brother. But the difference was now she was crying about Dick, not because of something he did to her.

Veronica was tired of waiting for Mac to say something. "Mac," she said interrupting Mac's guilty ruminations. "We need to talk."

"Okay." she furtively wiped her eyes before pasting a phony grin on her face and turning her head towards Veronica. "What about?"

"Gee, I don't know. World peace perhaps? Or maybe the crazed gunman who tried to take my Q away from me forever. The same gunman who ended up shooting Dick."

"I vote for the world peace conversation."

Veronica let out a weak laugh and riffled around in her purse til she found a crumpled but clean Kleenex which she handed to Mac.

"Thanks. And here I thought I successfully hid my tears from you."

"I'm a detective, remember? Future FBI trainee. You can't hide anything from me. But anyway, why wouldn't you cry? You've earned a few tears. Dick will be okay, you know. How are you doing? You're still injured yourself."

"Can't get anything past Bond huh? I'm fine."

"Well, I'm not fine. I just sat on my ass for 5 days while this scumbag makes 2 attempts on your life. Dick got shot! What am I doing? Me? I'm making love to Logan. I seriously underestimated this guy. He runs you over with a car and I didn't do nearly enough to find him. I should have been tearing up Neptune. Searching high and low, and in back alley ways. I know tricks most people wouldn't even imagine. No one can just disappear. And tonight. Well, tonight could have turned out so much worse than it did. But the bitch of it is, I could have prevented all of it. If only I had done more. Maybe if I had let Neptune's incompetent sheriff and his merry band of idiots handle things they would not have screwed things up as royally as I did. So no Mac, I'm not fine. I am so sorry. And so grateful for Dick that he saved you. I have no doubt that he did save your life. And never, never would I have thought I'd ever say grateful and Dick in the same sentence."

"Wow, V. That was some speech."

"Yes it was. And now I'm probably going to lose my voice. But really, please know I'm so sorry."

"Would you stop saying that? I don't blame you for anything. Never did. I never will. But now that Neptune's incompetent sheriff and his merry band of idiots as you call them are on the case I will be sleeping better. At least the perp is off the streets now. What is his name by the way? I think I should at least know the name of anyone who hits me with a car and then tries to shoot me."

"He's calling himself Leon Smith."

"That's an innocuous name."

"I know. Sounds like a math teacher."

"So that's why you think it's an alias."

"Oh, it is an alias. It's clean, too squeaky clean for the laundry list of crimes I discovered our boy has been committing since moving into our little piece of utopia."

"Well, there's our destination. I can't get away from this evil place lately. I just checked out 2 days ago and now I'm back."

"At least this time you're coming as a visitor and not a patient."

"I don't like this arrangement any better though. I feel so helpless, just watching Dick in pain. And I know this was supposed to me in there. I guess you're not the only one on the guilt train."

"You know, don't think about that now. Just focus on Dick. Be there for him. He's been somewhat decent to you. It's your turn now. Well Mac-attack, here's the entrance to the ER. I'll drop you off and bid my farewell. Dad will park your car in the lot next to the ER. Logan can drive you and Dick back to the hotel. Take care Macster. Thank you."

"Night Bond. Don't be too hard on yourself either. Good luck with everything down at the station. And thank you for the ride." Mac slowly crutched her way to the ER entrance.

"I'm here to see Dick Casablancas," she said to the receptionist inside the ER. "He should have just arrived via ambulance."

"He's in bed 5. Go straight down that hall and turn right."

"Thank you."

Mac pulled open the curtain to bed 5 in the quiet Neptune Memorial ER. Dick was sitting on the table pointedly not looking as a nurse poked and prodded the wound, periodically squirting a dropper filled with Saline in it. His face was pinched in pain and his knuckles were white from gripping the table so hard.

Mac crossed over to him and squeezed his uninjured shoulder to let him know she was there. "So, how are you holding up, kiddo?"

"Eh, been better. But things are looking up now that you're here," Dick said.

"Aren't you sick of this place yet?" Mac then turned to the nurse. "No offense."

"None taken, dear," the nurse said smiling.

"I know I am," Mac continued.

"Yeah, I certainly didn't expect to be back here so soon. Especially as a patient."

"I bet. But the gown looks good on you," Mac teased.

"It does. I'm thinking of taking it home as a souvenir."

"Well Richard, I'm done here," the nurse announced. "The doctor will be here shortly. I'll be back shortly with something for your pain. Miss, have a seat over there. Get comfortable. I can bring you a pillow for your leg too."

"Thanks," Dick and Mac said simultaneously.

Mac sat down on the chair the nurse had pointed to. "Ah," she sighed. "It feels so good to be off my knee."

Dick frowned. "Yeah, I noticed earlier you were putting more weight on it than you were supposed to."

"I forgot to grab my crutches from the bathroom when I first heard the gun shot. I wasn't thinking straight. Anyway, it wasn't the greatest idea on my part. But I'll be okay. Let's just get you taken care of."

The nurse came back into the room. "Miss, here's a pillow for your leg." The nurse handed Mac the pillow, which she gratefully propped under her knee, surprised at how much better it felt after that.

Then she faced her patient. "Well Richard, this should make you feel better." The nurse rolled up the sleeve of Dick's other arm and rubbed a cotton ball soaked in alcohol over his upper arm. She gave him an injection.

"Ouch," Dick exclaimed. "I hate shots."

"Isn't it better than getting shot though," Mac asked.

"Maybe."

"Well, the medication should take effect in a few minutes. Sit tight." The nurse said before leaving the room again.

Dick and Mac just sat there quietly, each lost in their own thoughts. Mac could tell though when the pain medication finally kicked in. Dick's face no longer looked pinched. He seemed more relaxed.

"Feeling better now, Richard?" Mac asked.

Dick quirked his eyebrow when she called him Richard. "Much better now. How about you, Cindy?"

"Touche! I'm okay. What are we, 80? Talking about our aches and pains."

"I feel about 80 now."

Just then the doctor came in. "Richard? I'm Dr. Ludwig. So, a gun shot huh? That's always painful. Let's see what we have. Then I know Deputy D'Amato has a couple of questions for you. That's just standard procedure for a gun shot injury."

The doctor was young, mid-30s with light brown hair. He deftly pulled up Dick's right sleeve and gently poked a little around the wound. He asked Dick about the pain, and where exactly it hurt and what his range of motion was like.

"Well, it's definitely just a graze. But it's deeper than most of the grazing injuries I usually see. Also, there's a bit of muscle visible. That's why you can't lift your arm up very high. I'm going to have to stitch you up, we're only talking 4 or 5 stitches, nothing major. And you'll need to wear a sling for 2 weeks or so. You'll be very sore for a few days. Otherwise, it's not that bad. Stitches will come out in about a week. I'll be back shortly with the supplies." The doctor turned to leave.

"Four or five stitches? That's way more than you have, right?"

"Yes, Dick, you win. I only have 3 stitches. What a stud. Your war wound is bigger than mine."

"That's right. I am a stud."

"Where's Logan? Didn't he ride with you in the ambulance?"

"Yes. Last I heard he was talking with Deputy D'Amato."

Dr. Ludwig and a nurse re-entered Dick's room loaded down with supplies.

"Do you want me to stay, Dick?"

"You don't have to stay for the actual stitching part if you don't want to. But please stay when they numb my arm. Have I mentioned recently that I _**really**_ hate shots?"

"Big tough guy like you?"

"Yes, even a big tough guy like me. This can be our secret."

"I won't tell a soul. Though I can't promise our own pixie spy won't divine your secret somehow."

"Speaking of Ronnie, where is she?"

"She's down at the station now, explaining the whole thing to Neptune's finest."

As the nurse prepared the shot of lidocaine, Mac went over to Dick's other side and grabbed his hand. The nurse injected the needle right above his wound. Mac wanted to look away when she saw the pain in Dick's eyes but she didn't. His grip on her hand tightened considerably.

"Ouch. Dude, are you trying to break my hand?"

"Oh sorry." Dck's grip eased up quite a bit.

"I'm teasing you. My hand is fine. Grip it as hard as you need to. Seriously."

"No need now. My arm is completely numb. Ahhh. Good stuff."

Logan peeked his head in. "Can I come in?"

"Sure man."

"Mac, Deputy D'Amato asked me to find you. He's in the cafeteria. Do you know where that is?"

"Thanks Logan. I can find it. I've spent enough time here this week. You take my place by Dick's bed. He can break your hand now." Mac ruffled Dick's hair briefly before turning to leave.

"How are you doing?"

"Better now. Feeling no pain."

"Good. Heroes should be kept as comfortable as possible."

"A hero? Me? Not hardly." Dick laughed at that label.

"Well, that's what I call it when someone takes on a guy with a loaded gun just to keep someone else safe. Maybe my definition is a little rusty. We can ask Mac what she thinks of someone who would take a bullet for her."

"I didn't take a bullet or anything. It just whized by me, taking a layer of skin and muscle."

Logan blanched at the description. "Oh right, that's so much better then."

"No, it sucks. But it could suck worse. I could have let the guy get by me and shoot Mac instead. But I don't think that makes me a hero. I didn't even think, I just acted. Pure instinct really."

Dick was so caught up in talking to Logan he hardly noticed the doctor stitching up his arm. He felt the pulling of the needle, but since it was so numb he didn't feel any pain.

It didn't take more than 15 minutes for the doctor to finish working on Dick's arm. Afterward, the nurse went to get a sling and a list of discharge instructions. He was told to lie still for a while until Deputy D'Amato was ready to ask him a few questions. After that he'd be released from Neptune Memorial.

Logan had remained in the room with Dick the whole time. He was sitting in one of the chairs across from the table where Dick was laying down.

"You've got it bad, don't you?" Logan asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on Dick, don't give me that shit. You know what I mean. You like Mac. Like like Mac."

"Of course I do. But nothing is straight forward with us. There's too much history there with the Beav, um Cassidy. We definitely have a flirty friendship, and I love that. But I don't know that she'd take it to the next level with me. I haven't always been nice to her."

"I think you've done a pretty good job of atoning for that," Logan interrupted.

"Okay, maybe taking a bullet for her, might help a little bit. But will she ever trust me?"

"You just have to take a chance, bro. Again, I'd say you went a long way recently towards earning her trust."

"I really wanted to wrestle that gun away from the attacker and kill him. I mean I really really wanted to. After what he put Mac through recently killing him seemed like the least he deserved. But you know what, I do not like that side of me. Maybe there's more of Cassidy in me than I thought."

"Well, you aren't the only one in this room related to a murderer."

Dick nodded, but didn't say anything.

"It's a struggle every day, Dick. I know it is. I wanted to end that guy too. But we didn't. Neither of us did. We let the law handle it. Though with this being Neptune, who knows how that will end up. But we both make a conscious decision every single freaking day to not be like our parents. It's not inevitable, dude."

"I hope you're right. Man, I want a drink now. I wonder how Mac's _talk_ with Leo is going."

*******Neptune Memorial Hospital Cafeteria**************

Mac was wondering how Dick was doing. Was he stitched up yet?

She had been sitting across the table from Deputy D'Amato for 20 minutes now. He was basically asking the same 5 questions over and over again, only he was slightly changing the wording every time. Mac figured they probably taught this in police interrogation 101. If so, Leo was top of his class at the academy. It could definitely be worse though, she could be at the station talking to Vinnie, or as she liked to think of him Sheriff Van Moron. Okay, that was one of V's pet names for him, but she thought it fit him pretty well.

The cafeteria was quiet this time of the night. Leo had commandeered a secluded table towards the back of the big room.

Mac's mind was starting to drift back to bed 5 in the ER, especially a certain lanky surfer dude who was getting fixed up there. She really didn't blame V for any of it. However Mac thought that if she had a time machine and could go back to Java Hut Wednesday afternoon, she would definitely have told V to get another computer hacker. Okay, though, if she were totally honest with herself, she enjoyed working with V, she loved poking around in computer networks and soon as she was fully healed she'd be back to being Q to Veronica's Bond. But being that hindsight was 20/20, this was one case she should have said hell no to. But she did not do that, and Dick was hurt and she was listening to Leo ask one of the same basic questions in yet another new way.

However, this time Deputy D'Amato added something that caught Mac's attention.

"Does the name Jeff Ratner mean anything to you?"

"Yes. He goes to Hearst. Veronica knows him better than I do. He works at the Neptune Grand."

"Well, Sheriff Van Lowe just texted me, they're taking him here right now. Head injury, I think. Someone just found him in the freezer, in just his boxers. He'd been hit on the head."

"That explains how the gunman got the uniform then," Mac said. "And how he got into the penthouse suite. It's pretty secure normally."

"You just spoke with Sacks on Thursday, correct?"

"Yes. I think we covered this already," Mac said. She added '50 times before,' under her breath.

"I just don't understand how you so easily dismissed getting hit by a car."

"Well, Leo, I didn't exactly dismiss it. I just didn't connect Veronica's case with my accident. It's not out of the realm of possibility that someone would hit me, get freaked out, and drive off."

"Why do I think that Veronica instructed you to claim it was just bad luck so she could handle things herself, in house?"

"I don't know. Why do you think that? But either way, a hit and run could just be an accident. A gunman loose in our hotel room. Well, that's a different story. That is deliberate."

"So Mac, can you prove that Leon Smith was embezzling from Kane Software?"

"Yes. I can track his footsteps so to speak. Every move you make on a computer is traceable. There is a trail. The program is total genius. It siphons off small amounts from every transaction at Kane Software. And for a major corporation like that, well he's stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars so far. That's a lot of motive. I'm not a detective, but even I can see that."

"Okay, well I have enough for now. I may have some follow up questions for you at a later date, but you're done for now. I'm going by the ER now to talk to Dick for a few minutes. Then you can take him home."

************Neptune Memorial ER***************

"Hey Dick," Leo D'Amato said coming into the room. He grabbed Dick's uninjured hand briefly before sitting down next to Logan.

"I'm going to track Mac down. I'll be back soon," Logan told Dick.

Deputy D'Amato asked Dick some basic questions about the shooting. He was sketchy on a couple of details, while other elements kept playing in his head on an endless loop.

"Well, I checked in with Sacks after my conversation with Mac. The techs have finished up scouring the scene. They found the bullet that grazed you. It was lodged in the living room wall next to the TV."

"At least no one was in the living room at the time."

"Yes. You all were very lucky. Especially you, Dick."

"So we can stay in the room tonight then?"

"Well, there will be some cosmetic stuff that will eventually need to be done. The dry wall will probably need patching where we removed the bullet. Also, there's still some of your blood on the carpeting. But I'm sure the hotel will make those arrangements. So yes, you can stay there tonight."

Dick cringed at the mention of his blood staining the carpet, a tangible reminder of this evening's events.

Leo left the room after promising to find Logan to let him know he could take Dick home.

Dick looked up at the ceiling thinking about how long the day was. Breakfast with Mac seemed like it happened days ago rather than 11 hours or so ago. He couldn't believe he didn't know right away that he had been shot. He was so caught up in fear for Mac he didn't even feel the pain. Of course unfortunately that initial adrenaline rush quickly faded and the pain folded over him.

Mac. Logan was right, he had to put himself out there. After today's events he knew he wasn't content with just being flirty friends or whatever label they put on it. He needed Mac in all facets of his life. But the thought of losing Mac altogether if things went wrong between them was frightening.

The numbness was starting to wear off and Dick really wished Mac and Logan would hurry up. He probably should get something to eat too. They never did get their food from room service.

"Ready to go, stud?" Mac gave him a big smile that faded a little when her gaze landed on his sling.

"Beyond ready. Where's Logan?"

"Pulling the car up."

A nurse with a wheelchair came up behind them and helped Dick sit.

"I can walk."

"Hospital policy, Mr. Casablancas."

By the time they wheeled Dick out Logan had pulled up out front in Mac's car. They settled him in the front seat and Mac squeezed into the back.

"You two make quite the pair," Logan said by way of greeting. "You're both walking advertisements for the ER."

Both Mac and Dick laughed at that.

"So I guess I'm your taxi service for tonight since neither of you are in the shape to drive tonight. Where to?"

"Food," Dick said just as Mac said "home."

"Okay how about we get food and take it home. I don't know about you guys, but I think I'll skip room service for awhile. So what sounds good? Lugi's? Cho's Pizza?"

And once again Mac and Dick shouted out their opposing answers at the same time. "Lugi's," Mac said thinking Veronica would want that as well. "Cho's," said Dick.

"Cho's is fine," Mac acquiesced. "I think we should go with what ever Dick wants. Just this time though. One time only deal. He's had a rough night."

They pulled up to the popular Neptune pizza place and went inside to place their order. When the 4 pizzas were ready, Mac and Dick realized that neither of them were going to be carrying anything for awhile. Dick only had use of 1 arm now and though Mac's arms were uninjured they were busy holding the crutches.

Logan carried the pizzas to the car, laughing at them. "You two are something else. A perfect pair."

"Well, okay we have a few logistics issues to work out, that's all," Dick said grinning at Logan's teasing. "Of course things have changed Mackie, and now I need a little nursing myself. I'm thinking of a sponge bath when we get back."

"He's got a point, Mac. Bathing will be hard at first, so you giving him a sponge bath would be a favor to all of us. Your civic duty so to speak. I think all heroes should get a sponge bath as part of the red carpet treatment they deserve."

"A hero?" Mac asked.

"Logan keeps calling me a hero."

"Well, I think what you did was brave. It was heroic. And stupid."

Dick's grin faded when Mac mentioned it was a stupid thing to do.

"No, no, Dick. I do not mean you're stupid. Far from it." Mac clarified. "Just it was a stupid risk for you to take. But one I am so glad you took because otherwise I wouldn't be here right now. So yes, you are absolutely a hero to me."

"So is that a yes to the sponge bath then?" Dick asked hopefully.

************Neptune Grand Penthouse Suite*************

Veronica was not-so-patiently waiting for them back at the suite. She had been tidying up the suite just to pass the time.

Sheriff Van Moron had kept her at the station for nearly 3 hours asking the same 10 stupid questions over and over again. He was trying to trip her up. Finally her dad intervened and told him they were leaving. Veronica was not a minor any more but having been a sheriff himself for so long, Keith knew just what to say. And of course having grown up the sheriff's daughter Veronica knew a few tricks herself.

Veronica had been cleaning the mess the CSIs had left behind. She knew the Grand had a housekeeping staff who would be glad to do that for her, but really she needed the distraction cleaning provided. She wished Logan, Dick and Mac would hurry up. How long did it take to stitch up a tiny gun shot wound? And hopefully when they did arrive they'd bring dinner with them. Her stomach was complaining loudly. Her dad had stopped by a drive through on the way to the station, but with Veronica's metabolism that was really more of a snack. Besides that had been several grueling, draining hours ago. She found herself in a position she'd never been in before, she was actually worried about Dick Casablancas. Of course this was the first time she could remember that Dick had hurt himself doing something truly selfless and heroic. So maybe he was truly worthy of her worry this time. She was starting to think it was time to truly forgive Dick. Regardless of her feelings on the matter, it probably wouldn't be long until he was dating one of her best friends. And of course after what just went down a few hours before, well it would be hard to raise any objections to Mac and Dick dating.

Veronica was scrubbing a wall in the living room when she heard the snick of the key card.

"Yay, you guys are back!" Veronica yelled happily as she opened the door for her friends. Her eyes lit up when she saw the pizza boxes in Logan's arms. "And you bought dinner!"

"I thought m'lady would be needing some nourishment," Logan said craning his head up slightly so he could kiss Ronnie's cheek over the pizza boxes. "Here, take a couple. These 2 aren't any help these days."

"Oh you know me so well," Veronica said as she took the 2 top boxes off the stack and put them on the now spotless coffee table. Logan put the other 2 next to them and Veronica opened the lids. There was a veggie special with no cheese for Mac, sausage and pepperoni for Logan, 3 meat special for Dick, and sausage mushroom and green pepper for her. Oh she loved her friends. She went over to the kitchenette area in the back of the large living area to get 4 paper plates and some forks.

Veronica put a couple big slices of the 3 meat special pizza on a plate and put it on Dick's lap. He was sitting up against the couch with his head back. She couldn't help but notice how drained he looked.

"Thanks Ronnie," Dick said.

"You're welcome. So what did the doctor say?"

"Just a graze. Though it did cut into the muscle a little. It'll heal in a few weeks. I'm in the sling for 2 weeks. 5 stitches. Nothing major or earth shattering. I'll live."

"Ouch! You in a lot of pain now?"

"A little. The shot is starting to wear off."

"Dick. You should have told me." Mac shifted a little and grabbed a pill bottle from her pocket. She handed it to Dick. He grabbed 2 and dry swallowed.

"Thanks Mackie."

"No problem. Hey V, did the crime scene people clean up after themselves?" Mac asked. "I was afraid this place would be trashed worse than Dick's frat house after a party. No offense, Dick."

"Hell no. I had a little time to kill before you guys got back."

"Looks good, V. You clean, you cook, you bake. Are you sure you're not attending Hearst just to get your M.R.S degree?"

"Shhhh, Mac-attack, not in front of the boys. Don't tell all our girly secrets. Dick, I tried to remove the blood stains from your room but I wasn't entirely successful. It's now just a faded brown splotch. I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd want a visible reminder smack in the middle of your room."

"Thank you Ronnie. I really appreciate you doing that." Dick was pleasantly surprised.

"And I really appreciate you keeping Mac safe. Something I failed to do myself. Twice! I just wish you weren't collateral damage."

Both Veronica and Dick thought this was the most serious, and civil conversation they'd exchanged in a long time. Or maybe ever.

Logan took it upon himself to lighten the mood. He did a spot-on impression of Leo. Then they all swapped stories about their interrogations. Veronica hadn't heard about the attack on Jeff Ratner. As they talked and laughed, they devoured the pizzas, except Dick who didn't have much of an appetite.

Dick started getting tired and as he fell asleep his head rolled over onto Mac's shoulder. She absently stroked his head, enjoying the scent of the salt water still lingering in his hair. He hadn't said anything to her, but Mac knew it would be 3 or 4 weeks at least until he was able to go surfing again. That would be tough on Dick, he'd been surfing almost as long as he'd been walking. Mac felt herself getting sleepy too so she enlisted Logan's help in waking Dick up enough to get him into his bed.

Despite the fact that Dick's bed was so massive it almost qualified for its own zip code, Mac and Dick cuddled up beside each other. She made sure to sleep on Dick's left side to avoid accidentally bumping his injured shoulder in the middle of the night.

Mac didn't end up getting much sleep that night. She took a couple of Tylenol to help with her own aching knee and set the alarm on her cell phone for 4 hours so Dick could take his next dose of pain killers and hopefully stay ahead of the pain.

What felt like minutes, though in reality was probably over an hour later, Mac awoke to screams coming from Dick. Not being fully awake, her first thought was that Leon Smith, or whatever his name was, had come to finish the job. Then she looked over at Dick and saw he was still asleep, thrashing around.

Frightened, Mac shook his shoulder. "Dick. Wake up. Come on. It's just a dream. Wake up." She was relieved when he finally responded to her.

"Oh Mackie. Um you're here. I keep re-living the shooting but this time it's you getting shot not me. Then it cuts to the roof of this building and I look down and see..." Dick's voice trailed off. "Never mind. I just want to stay awake. Get out of my head for awhile. Do you think you could just knock me unconscious for awhile? Please. That could work too. I'll just wake up Monday morning, no more dreams. "

"I don't think that's the best plan. How about you just go back to sleep, and if you seem like you're having another nightmare I'll just wake you up again? How's your shoulder? You were moving around quite a bit. You didn't roll over on it, did you?"

"Probably."

Despite his determination to stay awake the rest of the night, Dick was soon back asleep, snoring softly. Mac watched him for a few minutes before falling asleep herself. Not long after that her cell reminder went off and she reluctantly woke Dick up again to give him his pain pills. He once again fell back asleep but this time she tossed and turned. However, she must have eventually fallen asleep because the next thing Mac was aware of was the sun was streaming in through the curtains, and Dick was leaning over kissing her forehead.

"Good morning Dick."

"Good morning yourself, nurse Mackie."

"What's with this Mackie nickname? And yesterday I thought I was Nurse Rachet."

"What's wrong with Mackie? I like it. I decided you needed a new nickname, one only I could call you. And you were only Nurse Rachet after you yelled at me. Poor little injured me. I was defenseless."

"Yeah, that's an adjective people use to describe you all the time, 'defenseless.' But you might have a slight point about me yelling yesterday. I might have been a tad crabby. Of course in my own defense I didn't know at the time you really couldn't raise your arm that high. I didn't know it had cut you to the muscle. Man, I get queasy thinking about that."

"You and me both. I'm teasing. I know you were only trying to help. Still your bed side manner needed a little work. But I think you made up for it afterward. You've been a great nurse so far. But I only have one complaint."

"What's that?"

"I'm still waiting for that sponge bath."

TBC...


	7. Chapter 7--Enchiladas and Mendelssohn

**_Author's note: Okay, well this is the 2nd to last chapter. Something came up in the middle of writing this chapter which made it impossible for me to end it here. Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed and/or favorited this story. This chapter skips ahead one month. And it's a little more fluffy than the other chapters. Or at least as fluffy as I'm capable of writing. _**

**_Disclaimer-Last time I checked I still do NOT own Veronica Mars or any of the other characters. I like to borrow them from time to time however. _**

**Chapter 7—****_Enchiladas and Mendelssohn_**

_**One month later:**_

Mac stood in front of her closet mentally vetoing three quarters of her wardrobe. Her orange blouse—no, that would clash with the vivid red streak she'd put in her hair last night. Her black skinny jeans and "There are only 10 types of people in this world: Those who understand binary and those who don't" tee shirt. She actually considered that option briefly, but no. Her only directive was to be dressed up and that ensemble didn't fit that description. She needed a dress. However, Mac didn't have very many of those in her possession. And the few she did have were for either too businessey or to funeral-ish, and neither of those would work for tonight.

Parker! She knew living with Parker Lee had to have some benefits and now she'd discovered one of them—Parker's closet of clothes for any (and every) occasion.

Mac knocked on Parker's door.

"Come in," came the muffled reply.

"Can I raid your wardrobe?"

"Sure. Has the fact you dress like a guy finally come to your attention?"

Mac mock glared at her, then smiled. "I wouldn't go that far. But I may be slightly less of a fashionista than you are."

"Obviously. Help yourself."

"Thanks." Mac stood in front of the open closet and felt a little overwhelmed at the colorful assortment of shirts, pants, skirts, dresses, and jackets. She had a brief flashback to those seemingly endless shopping trips with her mom. There had to be a shopping gene, and she certainly didn't inherit it.

"So, where are you crazy kids going?"

"I don't know. He just said to get dressed up. Crap! He'll be here in less than an hour."

"Relax! That's plenty of time. Why are you so nervous?"

Mac thought that was a good question. Why was she nervous? She was just going on a date with Dick Casablancas. It was their first official date, but still, until last week they were living together. She and Dick tended to do things out of order. Most typical couples would date first and then live together but then she and Dick were a lot of things, typical was not one of them. "Because what if we find out we don't work as anything but friends, and then the date is so bad we can't even remain friends without it being awkward."

"So cancel then. Tell Dick you want to just be friends."

"No. I don't think that's an option either."

"Well, there you go then. Suck it up, get ready, and go have a great time! You just said it yourself, you and Dick are friends. Just have fun. Talk to him as a friend. You'll both have so much fun you won't remember it's even a date, until the end that is. Then maybe you can add the word _benefits_ to your friendship."

"Alright, I can do this." Mac took a deep breath. "Especially with the help of your little friend here." She held up a black satin sleeveless dress. It was simple, elegant, perfect. Of course on Parker it stopped at her knees while on Mac it was more mid-length, but it accentuated her curvier figure.

"Wow, Mac! Great choice. Too bad I need it for tonight. I have a hot date myself, with Piz."

"What?"

"Just kidding. It's fine. I'm teasing you. I wasn't planning on wearing it tonight. It'll look fabulous on you."

"Is that the only thing you were joking about, Park?"

"What exactly are you asking, Mac?"

"You and Piz?"

"Why not? We bumped into each other a couple of weeks ago, started talking about um people in our past and well turns out we have a lot in common with each other. You don't think that will cause problems, do you?"

"Of course not. I think you guys would make a great couple, Park. Really. So I guess I we both have big dates."

"Yes. Let me know if you need any help looking girly."

"Um, thanks? I think I'll be fine though. But I'll let you know if your services are needed. Thank you for the dress. My wardrobe is severely lacking in the dress department. Have fun tonight."

"Thanks, Mac. You too."

Mac limped back to her room, and stood in front of the full-length mirror on her door. She held the dress up to herself. It was beautiful, but so unlike her usual attire. She hoped Dick would like it, she had a feeling he probably would. Her hair was still slightly damp from the shower, so she decided to wear it down. Parker was right, she would be definitely be ready to go in an hour. She just needed to put on a little make up, pour herself into the dress and find comfy black shoes that would look good with the dress but not give her feet blisters either.

The dress went down just past her knees which was perfect, it would pretty much obscure the ugly black knee brace she still had to wear. The doctor had let her ditch the crutches but she still had to use the brace for another couple of weeks.

Mac grabbed her make up bag and headed to the bathroom down the hall. She planned on making this a memorable evening indeed.

_*******************_**Neptune Grand Hotel—the suite*******************

Logan and Veronica were stretched out on the big couch in the living room, they each had an Xbox controller in their hand. The remains of their carry-out lunch from Luigi's littered the coffee table in front of them. Veronica leaned forward slightly so she could see the screen better, she had Logan's avatar firmly in her sight and she was pummeling him with bullets. Logan was busy trying to deflect while firing off a couple shots himself but it was looking hopeless. The game was over too quickly, and Veronica gave a victorious fist pump and let out a whoop.

"Ever the lady there, Ronnie. Demure in your victory."

"You know it. So it's quiet in here. Your shadow getting ready for his hot date?"

"Yes. I saw the suit he picked out. Our little boy is growing up so fast. I've never seen him go all out for a girl before. Very impressive. He didn't even tell me where they are going."

"My source is in the dark about their destination too. We can put the clues together ourselves and piece it together."

"No, Nancy Drew. Put away your spy glass. We'll each get the blow by blow tomorrow. Let's get back to the game, I have a reputation to revive. I can't just let you get by with kicking my butt."

"Why not? I do it every time anyway." Veronica bent over to tickle Logan, and he quickly flipped her over to gain the advantage. However their wrestling and tickling match quickly morphed into something a bit more physical. They both paused mid-kiss though when Dick came into the room.

"Gross guys! Get a room! Or rather walk the 15 feet to your own freaking room! I'm pretty sure I'm blind now."

Veronica let out a wolf's whistle. "Looking sharp there, Casablancas. I'm ignoring your little diatribe there by the way."

"Thanks. You need to brush up a little on your definition of ignore however. I think it's against the rules to let someone know you are ignoring them."

"Duly noted. Moving on. So you clean up well. Where are you and my Q going on your social engagement?"

"None of your business. I'm sure Macster will submit to your interrogation tomorrow." Dick smirked.

"Well, it's pretty early still. So I'm guessing you've got more than one activity planned."

"Nancy, I told you to knock it off." Logan interjected.

"Since when do I do what you tell me to?"

"Good point. I'd have to say the next time there is a freeze warning in hell."

"That's correct. I knew I trained you right."

"Why don't we let our little boy leave for his date and then you can work on further training me. Okay?"

"I'm working on my lesson plan right now." Veronica purred in Logan's ear. Then she turned to Dick. "Well before you go pick up our girl, I have a little reminder for you. Play nice. Take care of Mac. I'm starting to like you, let's keep it that way. Hmm?! You've met my little friend, right? My taser. I know it's still working, if you recall I just used it last month. So, treat her right and I'll keep it holstered."

Dick subconsciously rubbed his shoulder, remembering when Veronica last used the taser. After all the drama and pain of the last month, he was really looking forward to his date with Mac. First official date. One of many, he hoped. The irony of how out of order he and Mac did things didn't escape him. Oh well, Dick thought to himself, he and Mac were anything but typical.

"Well guys, I'm out of here. Logan, pay attention to your lessons. I know you're hot for teacher. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Don't wait up! I plan on being out very very late."

"Have fun, Dick. And remember our little talk. You treat our girl right and I'll holster my little friend. Be safe. And don't you do anything we wouldn't do either." Veronica winked at him.

"Later man. Have fun." Logan called over his shoulder before getting back to paying attention to what Veronica was _teaching_ him.

After shutting the door to the suite, Dick carefully patted his pockets making sure he had the tickets before getting on the elevator. They were there. He hoped Mac liked his plans for the evening. She was more cultured than his typical girlfriend, if he could even call them that. Most of his relationships didn't exactly have staying power. Mac was more falafels and Fellini. She was so different, but so special. Dick hated the thought of risking their friendship but he could no longer deny that his feelings ran much deeper than just attraction. He wanted to believe that since Cassidy could no longer have Mac that he'd want Dick to be with her. He stopped that line of thought quickly though because it usually lead to more philosophical questions than he felt like dealing with at this particular time. Those kind of thoughts always led to his feelings of guilt which always then ended with a bottle of bourbon and a wicked hang over the next day. He needed a new plan, that one wasn't working for him any more. He needed to slow down the drinking.

Today was a good day, and hopefully his night would be even better. It was almost 3:30, and he had a lot planned for Mac.

Ten minutes later a nervous Dick Casablancas was knocking on Mac's door. Parker ushered him into the living room.

"Hi, Parker."

"Hey Dick. Have a seat. Mac is almost ready. So where are you two crazy kids going?"

"It's a surprise."

"I'd like to know the answer to that myself," Mac said coming out into the living room. Dick stood up and just stared at her before finding his voice.

"Wow, Mackie. You look beautiful."

"Thank you. You clean up nice yourself." She grinned.

Mac gathered up her purse and as Dick guided her out the door she turned back to Parker to say goodbye and wish her a good time on her own date.

Dick helped Mac climb up into the passenger's seat of his big truck.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. So what was that about Parker having a date?"

"She and Piz have a hot date. I'm thinking neither Veronica nor Logan know about it either."

"I don't think Ronnie or Logan really care. They're still pretty much only focused on each other anyway. But I think Parker and Piss would make a perfect couple. Epic in fact."

"Piz."

"That's what I said, Piss."

"Okay, whatever. So where are we going anyway?"

By now Mac had noticed they were going south on the Pacific Coast Highway. It was such a beautiful stretch of road. Once again she was reminded of how lucky she was to be raised in southern California.

"San Diego. I thought we'd have dinner at this Mexican place I know in Ocean Beach. It's got a very extensive Vegan menu. And then I have tickets for the Symphony."

"Dick! How sweet. What a perfect evening. Neptune isn't exactly brimming with cultural type activities. And my parents are more the nachos and Nascar type. I'm so excited. What composers are they presenting tonight?"

"Um, the dead kind?" Dick grinned to show he was teasing. "Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 2, some piece from _West Side Story_, and Rachmaninoff's "Symphonic Dances," I think."

"You really put a lot of thought into planning tonight."

"I did. You seem surprised."

"I am. But not for the reason you're thinking. I'm surprised that I'm not surprised."

"That doesn't even make any sense."

"You always seemed so I don't know, I guess self-involved in High School. And now that I've gotten to know you so well these past couple months, well there is this side of you that is so thoughtful and caring, and so focused on making other people happy. I like this Dick. The un-dick Dick."

"Well Ghostworld, there's so much more to you than a 12th level dork too."

"Is that supposed to be romantic?"

"Yes?"

Mac was surprised how quickly the two hour drive went by. Before she knew it they were pulling into the parking lot of a ramshackle restaurant nestled in the cliffs overlooking the ocean.

"They have a dress code here?" Mac asked with a smirk as they got out of the truck.

"Not exactly. The dress up clothes are for the symphony. You didn't strike me as the 4 star restaurant kind of girl. Though if you want to go somewhere else we can."

"No, no. This is perfect, Dick." They were looking over the menu posted outside the door. "Alright! I see what I'm getting for dessert. Coconut Vegan Cake! Are you sure you're not a closet vegetarian? You know the best places to eat."

"No, I'm not a closet rabbit food eater, I promise. It's in my 09'er DNA I think. We all have the foodie genes, we can find restaurants to fit any kind of craving. Plus there is such variety here I can feed all my carnivorous urges too."

They were seated by the window. Dick ordered them Guacamole with vegan tortilla chips to snack on while they looked at the menu.

Finally they placed their orders and sat back to wait, both taking in the view. Mac looked surprised when Dick ordered a lemonade to drink.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just thought you'd get a Margarita or a Corona or something like that."

"You're right, normally I would. I just thought I'd try something new and different. No, really I am cutting back on the drinking. A little bit at least. Wouldn't want my body to go into total shock though by quitting cold turkey."

"No, wouldn't want that. Good for you, Dick. So what brought this on?"

"Lot's of things I guess. Not one thing in particular. This is the start of man Dick, not boy Dick."

Mac started laughing hard at that. It took her awhile to catch her breath. "Sorry. I know you're being serious, and I am proud of you. But man Dick. Listen to yourself."

Dick started laughing at that too. "Okay, maybe not the best phrasing on my part. But you know what I mean. My old ways, they're not working for me anymore."

The conversation drifted to other things until they were interrupted by the arrival of their food. Dick eagerly took a bite of one of his fish tacos. Mac cut off a piece of her tofu enchiladas. After a couple of minutes of just enjoying their dinner, the conversation picked up again.

"So, do you miss room service?"

"Is that what you think I miss? Room service?"

"Okay, do you miss having Logan as a roommate?"

"Yes, it's Logan I miss. You caught me." Mac grinned. "But I'm doing better, getting around pretty good. Couldn't really justify staying with you guys any more. Besides if you recall after your um incident..."

"Shooting," Dick interjected.

"Right, shooting. Well anyway the parentals found out, as I'm sure you remember. And that wasn't really their dream living arrangement for me."

"Sam was pretty pissed."

"Yes, at first. I still can't believe how you turned him so fast though. And now you guys are on a first name basis. Impressive. But still, it was time to move back to my own pad. And now of course, if Logan and Veronica get a little vocal for you, you have a new place to hide."

"True. I plan on doing a lot of hiding now, especially since Ronnie started training Logan."

"Training you say? Do I really want to know about this?"

"No, you don't."

"Okay."

"As for your dad, I just played on his need to have his little girl taken care of."

"Well it worked. And "Natalie" wants you to come with us on the bi-annual Mackenzie camping trip. Feel free to say no. I had been hoping to get out of it, but no, mom decided to postpone it for a month so I could heal. I call it the biannual rite of torture."

"I take it you're not a fan of camping. So would we share a tent? If so, I'm in."

"Well, we have a camper. And you would be sharing a bed with a Mackenzie. Just not me. I'm sure you would get the privilege of bunking with Ryan."

"Alright, my man, Ryan. So when is this camping trip?"

"Next weekend."

"I'm free. Tell Sam and Natalie I'd love to join them."

"Are you sure? This is pretty quick, don't you think?"

"Not really. Well, maybe for normal couple following the normal track, but hell who wants to be normal."

"Not me."

"Obviously, Ghostworld."

"So, seriously? You want to join us?"

"Yes, I do. It sounds nice, a family camping trip. Do you want me to join you?"

"Yes, yes, yes. There is definitely such thing as too much family togetherness."

A wistful expression crossed Dick's face, and Mac reached out and grabbed his hand.

"Well, I'm stuffed," Dick announced breaking the brief period of silence. He pushed his plate away.

"Five tacos will do that to a person," Mac said dryly.

"I'm a growing boy."

"I'm not full yet. I saved room for cake."

"It's so sexy for a girl to get dessert on a date."

"Sexy?"

"Hell yes. Real girls eat dessert."

Dick ordered Mac's coconut cake and 2 coffees, then they both looked around at the other patrons of the crowded local hang out.

"Oh, they're having a secret affair. Look, he's old enough to be her dad." Dick said cocking his head towards a couple sitting across the aisle. He was trying to be subtle, which wasn't one of his strong suits.

"They are not. He's old enough to be her dad because he IS her dad," Mac said trying to hide a smile. Dick loved to think up wild stories about strangers. Parker was right, in a lot of ways dating a friend was easier because there weren't any awkward silences.

Dick made up stories on a couple more neighboring tables until their coffee and dessert came. Some how each story involved some sort of Gothic secret. Mac was laughing out right by then.

"I never knew what a suspicious mind you had there. Is there anyone you trust?"

"You. And Logan. Even Ronnie, I guess." Dick said. "Thanks," he said to the server who dropped off the dessert. "Oh good, he bought 2 forks. I can finally taste vegan cake. I'll cross that off my bucket list."

"You won't really taste any difference."

Dick made a funny face, pinched his nose and took a bite. "Well, actually, it doesn't taste like cardboard. I'll admit. Not bad really."

"See. I bet you'll be a convert."

"Let's not jump too far ahead. I'll just stick with my coffee, but you're right, it's not bad."

When Mac finished her dessert, Dick paid the check and they left. It wasn't even 6:30 and the symphony didn't start until 8 PM. They decided to take a brief walk on the beach. The sun was just starting its descent over the water. Mac took a deep breath, letting the salt-tinged air wash over her. She grabbed Dick's hand.

"I went surfing today," Dick said. "First time in over a month. It was so nice to be back among the waves."

"How did you do?"

"About how you would expect after not being out there for so long."

"A little rusty?"

"A bit. But the shoulder was okay. A little sore, but nothing I couldn't push through."

"That's good," Mac said. She bit her lip. "I never should have involved you with my little problem."

"How many times do we have to go over this? You could not have stopped me from getting involved. You were definitely not to blame for any of this. It's over now. Plus before I doubt even with all my immense powers of persuasion I could have convinced you to go on a date with me. Now look at us."

"Aw yes, your immense powers of persuasion. I forgot all about that. It went something like, 'let's go out this Saturday.' Then I said, 'okay.' So yes, your powers of persuasion were immense alright."

"Well Mackie, it worked."

"Yes, it did."

Dick noticed Mac's limp was getting more pronounced. "Let's sit." He pulled her down beside him. She stretched out, laying her head on his lap. They listened to the waves hitting the shore, kids laughing, sea gulls calling to one another. Reluctantly, Dick looked at the time display on his cell. It was time to go. They'd been there for 20 minutes, though it seemed a lot less than that.

On the way to the theater, Dick and Mac discussed Halo strategies, surfing, and how she paid for her prized lime green VW Beetle.

"Why am I not surprised you were the devious mind behind selling the results of the Purity Test?"

"So how much did you contribute to my car fund?"

"Enough to entitle me to partial ownership, I'd say."

"No! I don't share well. Especially when it comes to my car. So really, rough estimate, how much?"

"$300. Give or take."

Mac let out a wolf's whistle. "Wow. Well, that covers my sound system upgrade, I'd say. So thanks!"

They parked in an adjacent garage and entered the grand symphony hall. Mac looked around in awe of the gorgeous marble floors and the three towering waterfall crystal chandeliers.

They found their seats, third row middle section.

"Great seats, Dick. Perfect. Close but not so close you have a crick in the neck looking up at the musicians."

"Now, Mackie, you have to stay seated. Resit the urge to mosh."

"I'll try," she smirked.

Just then the music started, and Dick found himself enjoying it. It was pleasant background noise while he studied Mac as she stared straight ahead lost in the emotions the music invoked. Looking at the red streak in her hair he thought maybe red was his new favorite color. He yawned and stretched, snaking his arm around Mac.

She looked over at him and rolled her eyes. "Dork," she whispered. Dick just winked and went back to studying her as she once again focused her attention on the swelling music.

At intermission they followed the crowd out into the entrance hall. Mac had a glass of red wine while Dick stayed true to his plan by sticking to bottled water. She watched the other couples mingling around. She idly wondered if she and Dick seemed like a mismatched couple in the eyes of strangers. Probably not she decided. Mac saw a lot of people smiling as they noticed she and Dick holding hands.

After the concert was over, Mac decided she liked the last piece the best, Rachmaninoff's _Symphonic Dances_ the best. Dick liked the Mendelssohn piece better. They debated the merits of each piece on the drive back to Neptune.

It was after 1 by the time they entered the Neptune city limits. As Dick was about to turn down the street that led to her apartment complex, Mac suggested they head back to the Grand instead.

"I can't hide from Bond forever. I'll have to submit to her interrogations eventually. Besides she wanted to have brunch tomorrow. I'm assuming she's staying with Logan tonight."

"There's nothing to assume there. I've started calling her roomie now. I see her more than Logan these days."

"Nothing funny though. We're just sleeping in the same bed. Emphasis on _sleeping, _got it?"

"Yes, ma'am" Dick mock-saluted.

Mac did give Dick a chaste kiss though and thanked him for the lovely evening before getting into the bed.

"You know, my grandma kissed better than that."

"Um, there's a glimpse into the Casablancas family I really did not need." But she did give him another kiss, this one with some tongue.

"If your grandma kissed like this, well please keep that comment to yourself."

"Ha ha ha, Macster. That's more like it. I had a great time. I'm not really tired now though. And since my other suggestion has already been vetoed before I could even put it on the table, how about we put some of your Halo strategies to the test?"

"Thought you'd never ask. That's the perfect ending to our cultural evening."

Dick loaded the game into the machine and they both stationed themselves at the end of the bed. Mac hunched over a bit, getting into what Dick started referring to as her warrior stance. Ever since their brief tenure as roommates, Dick was becoming well acquainted with a lot of Mac's mannerisms and quirks. He still wasn't able to gain the upper hand over her immense gaming skills as much as he'd hoped though. Well, he was content to keep on practicing.

After the 3rd round Dick still hadn't won. By then neither were able to keep their eyes open, so they kissed good night a final time and didn't do anything more than fall asleep spooning.

The next morning Dick left a still sleeping Mac to go rouse Logan for some surfing. Veronica followed Dick out to the living room. She let out a big yawn. Like Mac, she wasn't a morning person either.

"How was your night? I didn't hear you come in. Where did you guys go?"

"It was nice. I'll let Mac-attack fill you in on the details though. She's asleep in the next room. You ladies have brunch plans I believe?"

Veronica cocked her head. "A sleepover huh? Any pillow fights? Hair braiding?"

"Something like that. I guess we have some catching up to do with you and Logan."

"Yes, you guys better get cracking." Veronica crossed over to the kitchenette area to put on a pot of coffee. She needed something to pass the time while waiting for Mac. When it was done brewing she took her cup to the couch and settled down to watch a movie. Logan and Dick had already left to hit the waves. Logan was happy to have his surfing buddy back.

A couple hours, and 2 pots of coffee later, Mac came shuffling out of Dick's room.

"Q! And here I am to witness your walk of shame."

"Naturally. What good is a walk of shame if there's no one there to witness it?"

"So true. Grab a cup, I just brewed another pot of coffee. There should be some soy milk in the fridge. Dick always seems to have a half-gallon of the stuff on hand these days. For some reason."

Finally both girls were awake enough to start thinking about going out for breakfast.

"How about the Neptune Cafe? Logan and I go there sometimes. I think they have a vegan menu too."

"Oh, I know that place. Dick and I went there a couple of weeks ago."

Mac and Veronica were both quiet on the short drive over. Once at the restaurant Mac noticed they were ushered to the same booth by the window that she and Dick sat at the last time she was there. She shivered a little remembering the events of that night.

"You okay, Mac-attack?"

"I'm fine. I was just remembering the last time I was here."

"Was the food that bad?"

Mac laughed weakly. "No. The food here is awesome. Otherwise I have said no to your suggestion. It just happened to be the same day the gunman," she made a face. "Leonard, broke into the suite. I was just thinking about Dick. The guilt train came rushing back to the station I guess."

"Mine still hasn't left the station. What? You know I feel responsible for everything." Veronica glared back at Mac, daring her to contradict.

"We're not going over this again, Bond. You're human, you make mistakes. You were not to blame for any of it. Oh come on, that can't be a newsflash. You had to have some vague notion that you are a human, right? With all the failings that come with that job description."

"Human you say? No, surely you jest."

"Sorry to break it to you. So what looks good? I'm having the pancakes again. So yummy!"

"Nice way to change the subject there, my Q. Something, anything with bacon. Bacon makes everything better."

"Except when you're vegan."

"Okay maybe that's the one exception to the bacon rule."

After the waitress came by to take their order, the conversation turned from the finer points of bacon to Mac's date with Dick the previous evening.

"So tell me about this hot date."

"We went down to San Diego, and we ate at this really cool Mexican place in the cliffs above the ocean. Then we went to the San Diego Symphony."

"Culture huh? Didn't know Casablancas had it in him. So he behaved himself then? I can keep my taser in the holster?"

"Yes, you can holster the taser. I don't think you'll need to use it. On Dick, at least."

Just then the food arrived and temporarily distracted them from more girl talk.

As she was about half-way through her stack of pancakes, Mac happened to glance up out the window to see two guys carrying surf boards to a big yellow truck. One guy was tall, lanky with shaggy blond hair, the other guy was also tall and lanky with brown hair.

"Hey Bond, look who I spy. Aren't those our guys?"

"Our guys? Why yes, I would say they are. I might have mentioned to Logan we would probably eat at the Neptune Cafe. I'm sure they're planning on crashing our little party."

And almost on cue Logan and Dick strolled into the restaurant, trying to act as though it was all one big coincidence. They made their way to Veronica and Mac's booth.

"Dick, look who it is. I didn't think we'd see anyone we knew here. I'm starving. Nothing like a big omelet after a full morning of hitting the waves."

"You're not fooling anyone there, L. I told Mac you guys were planning on crashing our little party."

"See what happens when you date Nancy Drew," Logan said to Dick.

"Bond and Q," Veronica corrected.

The waitress came back over to take the newcomers orders. Both guys decided on omelets and coffee.

"So did you get any details out of Macster? I couldn't get anything out of Dick, other than they went to San Diego."

"Well, they went to the symphony. Did Dick mention that?"

"No, Ronnie. He didn't say that."

"Um you know guys, we're sitting right here too," Mac said to Logan and Veronica. "Dick, do you get the feeling we're invisible?"

"Must be their epicness showing through."

"I guess no one else can enter their stratosphere."

The two couples bantered with each other while waiting for Logan and Dick's food to arrive. Then once the guys occupied themselves with eating, Veronica and Mac once again were able to direct the conversation.

"Oh hey, I have some gossip for you V."

"Spill. I do love some good gossip."

"Your ex and Logan's ex have found their way to each other."

"Piz and Parker? Do tell."

"There's nothing to tell right now. They had their first date last night. Is that going to be weird?"

"Hell no," Veronica said at the same time Logan started coughing as he tried to speak while eating a bite of egg and it went down the wrong way. "I think I speak for Logan too when I said hell no. I think they'd make a great couple. Almost as good as you and Dick."

"So now they're speaking for each other, Mackie. How long til we get like that?"

"I'm thinking somewhere around it's never going to happen in this lifetime."

"Dick, so where are you guys going for your next date?" Logan said after regaining his powers of speech once again.

"We're going camping next week. My family's traditional biannual rite of torture. Mom said I could invite Dick and evidently he's got some masochistic tendencies because he agreed to go."

"So Mac, I thought we weren't going to become one of those couples who spoke for the other." Dick smirked.

"Damn. Okay, that was just a fluke, won't happen again." They exchanged a smile. Something told both of them it wasn't just a fluke.

_**TBC...**_


	8. Chapter 8--Roughing it (part 1)

**_Author's note: Well this is the last chapter BUT I'm not quite 3/4's of the way done with it and it was already 9,000 words so I decided to break this into 2 parts. I should be done with the 2nd part in the next couple of days, so I will post the final installment of One for the Road by next week, probably Tuesday or Wednesday. This part is the somewhat fluffy stuff before the actual camping trip, which gets quite a bit angst-ridden. I like writing LoVe too, so I put some LoVe and MaDi stuff here but the 2nd part will be almost all MaDi. Thank you for reading it. And thank you for the reviews, follows and/or favorites too. _**

**_Disclaimer-Nope, don't own a thing. If I did, well, I'd still probably write fan fic because I just love these characters. But Rob Thomas owns everything, I own nada. I also don't own The Seeker, Lord of the Flies, Halo, Lost, Casablanca or any other book, game TV show or movie I reference or skew a quote from. I wish I did though, I'd be so rich!  
_**

**Chapter 8—Roughing it (Part 1)**

Dick and Mac entered The Java Hut, looking around for Logan and Veronica. They spotted them at a table in the back corner.

"Hey, how was the movie?" Veronica asked as they sat down.

"Awful," Mac said as Dick said "awesome."

"What did you see?" Logan asked.

"_The Seeker: The Dark is Rising_."

"How could you say it was awesome? It was terrible. Of course I'm usually skeptical of adaptations, and in this case I was right. It didn't stay true to the mythos of the books at all."

"The effects were so cool."

"Maybe, but that's the only good thing I can say. You didn't read the books, so that's probably why you liked it."

"You're such a movie snob, Mackie."

"I have standards, that's all."

"Oh Logan, lucky us. We just got to witness their very first lover's spat. I feel so special."

"Well, not every couple shares the same opinion as we do. I'm so lucky, you just think and say everything I tell you to. Works so well that way." Logan smirked. He tried unsuccessfully to duck as Veronica punched him hard on his arm.

Dick laughed. "Well, someone is sleeping on the couch tonight. You can take my room if you want. I'm sleeping over at Mac's tonight. We're leaving first thing tomorrow for the camping trip."

"Casablancas, has your bed been disinfected lately?"

"That joke never gets old, Ronnie."

"I think that's probably true Logan, only somehow I'm thinking it's more likely that you do and think everything Veronica tells you to. Rather than vice versa," Mac said. V reached over to high five her.

"You got that right, Q."

The waitress, Meredith, came by after noticing the new arrivals. Veronica knew her vaguely from her time working at Java Hut during high school. "What can I bring you guys?"

Mac and Dick ordered soy lattes while Logan and Veronica had refills of their Irish coffees.

"So where are you guys going tomorrow?"

"Don't know yet. I never know until we get there," Mac said.

"Well, I'm excited about the whole camping adventure. We could get lost in the woods, make our own society."

"Like _Lord of the Flies_, that could work. Minus the whole pig head on the stick though, please."

"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of _Lost_, without the plane crash of course. I think we've both had enough accidents for a lifetime."

Veronica quirked an eyebrow at Logan. "That must be a new record. Second official date, and they're already talking about creating their own society. We went what, 6 months before we discussed creating our own world?"

"I think it was more like 8 months, Sugarpuss. Maybe they'll invite us to join their little society. On second thought, nah."

"I don't think there's room for us."

"Even if there were, I don't think we'd want to be there anyway."

"You know, since you don't eat meat, I figure I'm safe. You know, if we do end up lost in the woods, starving, nothing to eat."

"Safe? What does that even mean?" Mac gave Dick a puzzled look.

"You won't eat me. Well, not in the cannibalistic kind of way," he grinned lasciviously. "You know, being a meat hater and all."

"No, that's not it. I just don't believe in eating innocent animals. And you, Casablancas, are a lot of things, innocent however is not an adjective I'd use to describe you. I'd make an exception to the whole not eating meat thing if we were in a lost type situation."

"Enough with the cannibalism talk guys," Logan and Veronica shouted simultaneously.

Dick laughed and was about to tease Logan and Ronnie about their new found ESP abilities when Veronica muttered "of all the coffee shops in all of Neptune, they had to walk into ours."

All four sets of eyes alighted on the entrance to the Java Hut. Parker and Piz were walking in, laughing, their arms around each other.

"Java Hut, it's _**the **_place to see and be seen here in Neptune."Logan said in his best imitation of voice over in a commercial.

Mac waved to get their attention. Parker smiled and waved back to acknowledge Mac. She turned to Piz and whispered something in his ear. He shrugged and they headed to the table to join everyone.

"Hey guys, mind if we join you?" Parker said. She looked directly at Mac.

"Not at all. Sit down," Veronica said, smiling to show she was at ease with the whole situation.

Piz brought over to 2 more chairs from the empty table next to them. Dick and Logan scooted apart to make more room for the newcomers. "Hey guys," Piz said as he sat down.

"Piss, Parker, what brings you here?" Dick said.

"Um it's Piz," he corrected.

"That's what I said, Piss."

"Dick would you stop living up to your name." Mac chided, the look she gave him was not friendly. She punched him on his arm to punctuate what she was saying.

"Sorry. Honest mistake. I have trouble pronouncing z's." Dick would not look at Mac as he said it. "I'll work on it though."

"We just came from the bowling alley."

"I haven't been bowling in ages. Last year, when we all went in fact," Veronica said.

"Yeah, good times," Piz muttered.

The waitress returned with the four coffees and a couple menus for Parker and Piz.

"So who won?" Dick asked hoping to fill the looming silence. "Thanks," he said to the waitress as she placed his latte in front of him. He grimaced slightly as he took a sip. He didn't like the taste of soy milk, though he was trying to because of Mac. But however much he liked her, she'd never be able to make him into a vegetarian, still he could learn to appreciate soy milk at least. Make that tolerate soy milk.

"I did," Piz said.

"It was close. He only beat me by 5 points. However, I don't think either of us will be asked to join a league anytime soon." Parker and Piz looked at each other and smiled. "Where did you guys go?"

"Dick and I went to see _The Seeker: The Dark is Rising._ Terrible, don't waste your money or time going to see it," Mac said. "I'm not actually sure what Logan and V did before meeting us here."

"We ate at Luigi's. I was still hungry though so we decided to get dessert."

"Correction there, sugarpuss, this would be your 2nd dessert."

"The cream puff? That was just a pre-dessert warm up. This death-by-chocolate cake is the true dessert." Veronica pointed to the crumbs littering the empty plate in front of her.

"What cake?" Dick asked.

"Exactly."

"Actually, Pis, um Piz, _The Seeker_ was pretty awesome. Great effects. You should see it. Mac just didn't like it because it didn't stay true to the books."

"Let's not rehash the movie critique here," Veronica interjected. "You don't want them to re-enact their first lover's quarrel."

"Some things are best left to the imagination."

"That's right. I say that every day," Dick said. "You'd be surprised how thin the walls are at the Grand."

He ducked and laughed as Veronica launched her fork at him. She missed. "You could have poked me in the eye. Good thing you throw like a girl, Ronnie."

Logan just shook his head at Dick. He always secretly enjoyed watching his best friend and his girlfriend snark at each other. Things weren't always smooth between the two of them, but ever since the events of the past month they were getting along so much better than he had ever dared to dream.

"Well at least I am a girl, Casablancas. What's your excuse?"

"So, you recommend the Death-by-chocolate cake, Veronica?" Parker asked. "Not to change the subject or anything."

"Absolutely. It's deadly, in a good way."

"Okay, well if you have to go, that's the way I'd want to go. Death-by-chocolate. I'll try that. You going to get something?"

"I'll try some of yours." Piz said as he flagged down the waitress. She came over and he placed their coffee and cake order.

As the three couples sat there waiting for Parker's cake the conversation drifted to the past month's drama.

"I'm glad you're back in our apartment, Mac. I missed your techie skills around the apartment. You keep my computer running smoothly."

"Wow, I'm blushing." Mac said dryly.

"Well, Parker, your gain is our loss," Logan cut in. "I for one miss her around the suite. Who else can reign Dick in? I try, but I just don't have her touch."

"I don't either, but I do have my taser with me at all times. You can borrow it any time. I've found it effective in the past when it comes to Dick training," Veronica said looking at Logan. "As for me though, I miss having her to talk to in the mornings when the guys go surfing. Now I actually have to, gasp, study or read or something intellectual like that."

"I can really feel the love at this table guys."

Meredith came back with Parker's cake, and a couple cups of coffee. "Expecting any more people to drop by your table?"

"No, I don't think so," Veronica said smiling.

Parker demolished her thick slice of cake, with a little help from Piz. The conversation continued on the same track.

"So, Veronica, do you know anything more about the case Sheriff Van Moron is building against Leonard, Leon, whatever his name is?" Mac asked.

"Sheriff Van Moron?" Piz looked confused.

"V's pet nickname for our fine sheriff."

"Oh."

"Yeah, he couldn't sheriff his way out of a paper bag."

"His name is Leon Smith, well that's his alias. I never found out his real name. But anyway I really don't know much, Macster. I think the case is pretty tight, though as everyone knows, with Sheriff Van Moron on the case there aren't any guarantees. I guess there will be a trial in a few months. You know Jake Kane will want the book thrown at him. He's never really been one to look the other way when someone steals from him." Veronica's face darkened briefly when she said that.

"I guess I'll have to testify then."

"Probably. And Dick too, I'm sure. That's a long time in the future though."

Mac glanced over at the clock on the far wall of Java Hut. It was getting late. She and Dick had to be at her parent's house by 9:30 AM the next day. She hoped V wouldn't be too mad at her and Dick for leaving them alone with Parker and Piz. Things seemed to be going fairly well though. It seemed like all residual bitterness from last year had been put aside. She didn't want to think any more about the trial either. It was a long way off and she had better things to think about. Being alone in the woods with Dick, for one thing.

"Well guys, I hate to break up the party but it's getting late. Dick and I have to get up early for the fun and frivolity that is the biannual Mackenzie rite of torture. And the best part is, we'll have several hours of being stuck in a tiny camper with Ryan. Yay! You ready to roll Dick?"

He smiled at Mac and threw down a $20 bill to cover their coffees. That was way more than the actual cost, but being a typical 09er Dick tended to overpay for everything.

After everyone said their goodbyes, Mac and Dick walked out of Java holding hands. The night air was warm, and the salty tang of the nearby Pacific permeated the air. They headed towards Dick's truck.

Back at Mac's apartment Dick had a couple suggestions for ways to entertain themselves since Parker was still out with Piz. Mac vetoed most of those suggestions. However, as a compromise they decided to plug in Mac's Xbox for a couple rounds of strip Halo. Whoever lost the game had to take off one piece of clothing.

Afterward Mac was still fully clothed while Dick was down to only his boxer briefs.

"Best game of strip Halo ever," Mac enthused.

"Yeah, I would have preferred a different ending though. I demand a rematch."

"Not tonight. I'm sure we'll play again. I doubt the ending will change though. You'll still end up naked. Just admit it, you cannot beat me! I am the master. Mistress I guess. Bow down to me."

"Oh I plan to, Macster."

"How can you make everything that comes out of your mouth sound dirty?"

"It's a gift."

"And it keeps on giving."

"Good one. See? You have the gift too." Dick grinned. Then he added, suggestively "I have something I can give you."

"There you go, doing it again."

"It's one of my many talents. I have another talent I can show you."

Mac let Dick show off one of his particular talents and then she returned the favor. Afterward they fell asleep intertwined in each others' arms.

All too soon Mac's alarm was going off. She removed one of her arms from where it was positioned under the still sleeping Dick, and reached over to stab the snooze button. Finally after the 2nd cycle, she reluctantly roused herself out of bed, pulling Dick with her.

"You're already packed right?"

"Yes. I already put my gear in your car last night."

"Okay, well I need to finish packing. Why don't you make coffee and find the blueberry muffins. I think they're in a bag on top of the microwave. There might be a couple cartons of soy yogurt in the fridge too."

"Muffins and soy yogurt? That's what you call breakfast?"

"Works for me. That's what I eat almost every morning. I'm sure you can scrounge up some more **manly** food in the camper. But this will get you started. Call it a snack."

After Mac was finished throwing a few jeans, a pair of shorts, several tee shirts and a ratty old Neptune High sweatshirt in her bag she went out into the dining room to find that Dick had breakfast waiting. He'd found an old issue of _Wired_ on her coffee table and was skimming through it as he sipped his coffee. It made a cozy scene. Vaguely surprised by the feelings he brought out in her, Mac gave Dick a lingering kiss on his lips before sitting down in her usual chair. She took a bite of her strawberry yogurt. Then followed that with a sip of the coffee that was waiting for her. He had even made the coffee exactly the way she liked it, heavy on soy milk, no sugar.

"Hey, these muffins are pretty good. Did you make them?"

"Thanks. Yes, I did. I won't tell you they're vegan."

"They don't taste like cardboard."

"See? First the cake, now the muffins. You're broadening your food horizons already."

After they'd finished eating, Mac washed the dishes and grabbed her bags. They headed out the door and into the gray, dreary Friday morning.

"Okay, last chance to back out," Mac said as she climbed into the driver's seat of her car.

"No way," Dick said back as he buckled his seat belt. "I love camping."

"I was talking to myself. No, just kidding. I'm glad you like camping but you've never been camping Mackenzie style. You've been officially warned. Too late now."

"I'll risk it. Besides, I like your family. Though is there any chance we'll get to sneak off by ourselves?"

"Maybe. I bet I can bribe Ryan to keep the parentals occupied for a while. Otherwise, I know my dad likes you, but still, I'm his little girl. The game changer now is he knows we're dating. So you do the math on that one."

"Well, math is actually my best subject." He grins when he notices the disbelieving expression on Mac's face. "What? I have a best subject. Business is in the Casablancas' blood. We know our way around money."

"I didn't mean it like that, Dick."

"Yes, you did."

"No, not really. I think you're smart. I know you are." She noticed Dick was the one now with the disbelieving expression. "Really and truly smart, Dick. You just hide it well. You act like you just coast through classes."

"Well, I do, mainly. But sometimes if something interests me, I can apply myself. I see something right now that interests me. I plan on doing a lot of studying this weekend."

"And there you go again. Making the word studying sound dirty."

"I'm showing off my gift again."

"Well, stop it. It we're almost at my parent's home. It's time to act like this mature Dick I keep hearing you mention. The one that knows how to impress parents."

"I thought you said they like me."

"They do. I want it to stay that way."

"Me, too," Dick admitted, the teasing tone gone.

It got quiet for a moment until Mac broke up their individual reveries. "I remember the time I went camping our junior year. It was right after I crashed Mad-, um your exes' party. Right after V discovered the truth. Anyway, the next day I went by _**her **_house to pick up the purse I accidentally-on-purpose left there." A fleeting look of sadness crossed her face then it was gone just as quickly. She gave Dick an ironic smile and continued. "Madison's mom was there. She knew who I was right away. It was kind of like looking in a mirror. Well twenty years in the future, but still, hard to deny that I'm a Sinclair, by genetics at least. So, the next day we left to go camping and I saw Mrs. Sinclair parked down the street. She was just watching me. We didn't speak, not really. Not with words. But she knew I knew she knew. And maybe it was also she let me know she knew I knew. Does that make sense? I lived it, and I'm not sure it makes sense to me."

"Okay, well, you kind of lost me with the second _she knew_, but I think I do know what you were saying. Essentially, you were both aware of who the other one is."

"That's exactly right. Okay, well, we're here. No more talk of baby switching, please." Mac pulled over and parked on the street in front of the house where she grew up. Colony Place was a nice street of well-kept middle class houses smack in the middle of Neptune's 02 zip code, in other words miles away from the mansion of Dick's childhood. Figuratively and literally.

The camper was prominently taking up most of the available space on the Mackenzie's driveway. All the doors were open, and Mac's mom was inside putting the groceries away. She looked out one of the windows and saw Mac and Dick getting out of the car. Natalie Mackenzie poked her head out of the camper door and waved. "Cindy, Dick, glad you're here. Dick, you go in and find Sam. He'll need help loading the rest of our gear. Cin, come in here hon. Help me unpack the rest of the groceries."

Mac punched Dick on the shoulder. "Guess you're not a guest on this trip."

Dick smiled, "I wouldn't want it any other way." He gave Mac a brief kiss when her mom was turned away and then headed into the house to find Sam Mackenzie.

"Hi Mom," Mac said heading into the camper. She set down their bags and kissed her mom on the cheek. Then turned around and started unloading a paper bag filled to the top with food. "Are we staying for a month? I don't think Dick and I can miss that much school."

"Ha ha Cindy. It takes a lot of food to feed both carnivores and freakball vegans at the same time, dear. At least Dick has had enough meals with us that I know which group he fits into."

"That's right, so it's freakball vegan singular. I'm the only freakball."

"Aw, but you're my freakball, hon."

"I feel the love, mom!"

Natalie leaned over and gave her daughter a hug.

They both got back to work unpacking all the food and utensils.

"Mom! Vegan marshmallows? Where did you find those? You're the best."

"I hated that you couldn't eat any S'mores, so I searched online and found a store not too far from here. I might have gone a little crazy in their vegan section. Anyway, I found chocolate bars too. Like I said, you are _**my**_ freakball."

Dick and Sam entered carrying several heavy boxes and bags between them. Ryan was on their heels carrying his own duffel bag.

"I think this is the last of it, Nat. Dick, Cindy, did you stow away all your gear yet?"

"Yes dad, we're all set."

"Come on, let's hit the road!" Mac's mom said shutting the door to the camper. She stationed herself up front next to Sam. Mac, Dick and Ryan sat around the table located by the kitchen area. She turned around in her seat though for the big reveal. "We're going to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Dick, have you ever been there before?"

"Never."

"Us either."

"Mom, how long will we be trapped in here?"

"Close to 7 hours. But we'll probably break for lunch. No whining. No complaining."

Dick dug around in his bag which he'd placed at his feet. He removed a text book from his Intro to Biology class. Meanwhile Mac had her laptop opened and was already logged on. Ryan was listening to his iPod. The camper had just left the Mackenzie's neighborhood. Mac looked over at Dick's textbook sitting opened on the table in front of him. She quirked her eyebrow and nodded toward it.

"What? I do study. I told you that."

"No, I know that. I just meant it's not even 10 AM on a Friday, and we're skipping class today. Look at you. Studying and no one is forcing you to."

"Don't tell everyone. It's our secret. Seriously though, I have an Exam Wednesday that I have to ace."

"Define 'have to ace.' "

"It's really a simple concept. I have to get a B at minimum. An A would be better. We're not all geniuses with genius level IQ's."

"I'm not a genius," Mac insisted. "So how bad are your grades?"

"In this class?"

"That's what I was asking originally since that's the class we're talking about. But okay, how bad across the board?"

"Across the board, not too bad. A couple C's, 2 B's. This class though. Um, a F." The last part was said softly.

"Why is that?"

"I might have gotten a little behind after the whole shooting thing. I might have forgotten to study for a test."

"Dick!" Mac's tone was exasperated. "I know there was a lot going on, but why didn't you explain things to your instructor. I bet they'd understand."

"No. I don't want to make excuses any more. I messed up. I should just accept what comes next."

"Well, it's done now I guess. And, it is still early in the semester. You could still do okay."

"Right. That's why I thought I'd try a new approach. It's called studying. See my open book?"

"Oh, thank you for explaining that concept again. I got a little fuzzy there for a moment."

They both went back to their own individual activities for a few minutes. Then Dick looked up again at Mac and said "I can't get used to you being called Cindy."

"Well, since you're surrounded by Mackenzies, it would be weird if we called each other Mac. Besides, Cindy won out over Barbie."

Dick burst out laughing. "Barbie? Oh that would rock. You better watch yourself Miss Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie, or you might well find yourself being called Barbie."

"That's a pretty serious threat there, Dickie." Mac hit the "ie" pretty hard. "I don't think you want to go there."

"That sounded pretty threatening there too, Barbie."

"Oh, I'll show you threatening."

"Do you guys ever shut up?! Is it going to be like this the whole freaking time?" Ryan had removed his iPod earbuds and was now glaring at them both.

"No," Mac said as Dick said "probably."

"I knew I should have been allowed to bring a friend too. This is going to be the slowest, most boring, suckiest weekend ever."

"Do you even have friends?" Mac asked.

"Funny."

"Who would you have brought, Ryan?" Dick asked, genuinely interested.

"Mom probably would've wanted me to bring Todd or maybe even Zane. And I probably would've. But if this was some Bizzaro World and I could have brought anyone, I would've liked to bring this girl in my history class. She's pretty cool. We're not not dating or anything. We're not even friends. Not really. I mean we don't hang or anything. But we talk a lot. She's different. I think her parents are loaded. She's an 09er. But not really a typical 09er. She's super smart, a little weird. But cool."

"Sounds like Mac."

"Who?"

"Cindy."

"Ewww, that's gross."

"Sounds like you have a crush." Dick said. Ryan blushed. "What's her name, little man?"

"Lauren."

Mac felt the blood drain from her face. She really hoped Ryan didn't notice. She knew instantly he was talking about Lauren Sinclair. One look at Dick confirmed that he was thinking it must be Lauren Sinclair too. Dick reached across the table to squeeze her hand, recognizing her mood.

"Ryan, what video games do you like?" Dick asked, hoping to find a subject that would distract Ryan enough so Mac could get her emotions under control.

"I play Halo sometimes. Cindy has a lot of awesome games."

"I know. What other ones do you like?"

Dick and Ryan spent a long time talking about video games, then school and girls and finally what life as an 09er was really like. Mac listened to bits and snatches of their conversation, but mainly she thought about her first meeting with Lauren.

It was so weird to think about having a blood related sister out there that she didn't know. They both liked to read, but that was really as in depth as their conversation had gone. She couldn't imagine having Madison as an older sister would be an easy thing. She figured dental surgery would be more fun than Madison. But then, maybe just maybe Ryan would say something similar about having her as an older sister too. Hopefully not the dental surgery thing, she didn't think she was that mean. But still, she issued Ryan more than a couple threats of pain and bodily harm through the years, several tickle wars, even a couple punches issued. But nothing major, just typical brother/sister fighting.

She loved Ryan, he was her brother in every sense of the world. However, the thought of Lauren made her long for something. The bitch of it was she couldn't name what it was she was longing for. _That's what happens when you're switched at birth, your life is so fucked up_, she thought to herself. For some reason, it had never crossed her mind that Ryan knew Lauren. It made sense, they were the same age. They were in the same grade. They went to the same school. However, the thought of her brother knowing, let alone having a crush on her biological sister was so weird. It was so Neptune.

All that thinking had made Mac exhausted, she laid her head down on the table and ended up taking a brief nap. When she woke up they were pulling into a parking lot of a restaurant. She noticed Dick and Ryan had both been sleeping too. She smiled faintly thinking about how well they had been getting along. As painful as the thought of Lauren was to her, it must be a 100 times more painful for Dick when ever he thought about Cassidy.

The jolt of the camper being put into park woke up both boys. Dick looked up sleepily and searched out Mac. He noticed she had been staring at him and smiled briefly. "Where are we?"

"Some restaurant. Dad likes to stop at local diners if he can."

"Come on guys. Chop, chop," Mac's mom shouted from the front. "I'm starving."

Ryan got up and ran out the door to join his parents who had already left the camper.

Mac stood up and felt a sharp twinge of pain in her left knee. "Ouch. Dammit." She sat back down.

Dick was by her side immediately. "Mac?" He asked softly frowning in concern. "What happened?"

"My knee must have stiffened when I slept."

"Do you have your brace?"

"Yes. It's in my bag. I didn't think I'd need to wear it when I was just going to sit here for hours at a time. It just hurts a little. No big deal."

"Put it on."

"Yes, Dr. Casablancas. Could you get it out please?"

Dick dug the brace out of Mac's overly-full bag and handed it to her. She pulled down her khaki pants just enough to velcro the brace on her knee, but not enough to really give him much of a show. "Thanks. Now back off, give me space to stand."

"No, take my hand. Lean on me as you pull yourself up."

Being told what to do wasn't one of Mac's favorite things to do, but she took his suggestion. Once secured in the brace, her knee felt much better.

However her parents noticed the more pronounced limp. "Cindy, hon. What happened?"

"Nothing. Knee just got stiff. Dick helped me. I'm okay. It's working itself out."

"Are you still up for camping? We can figure something else out."

"Of course. I'm as up for camping as ever. It's fine. Let's stick to our original plan."

After a quick, but yummy lunch, they all loaded back into the camper. The whole time in the restaurant Dick and Ryan continued talking about games and girls and just generally bonding. Mac couldn't help thinking how cute Dick was with her brother. He teased Ryan a lot, but it was a friendly kind of teasing. Ryan seemed to like having another guy to hang out with. Dick was a natural with her parents too. It was funny but the few times Cassidy met her parents it was stiff and awkward. Then, Cassidy was more like her. Shy, reserved, too smart, to much in their own little worlds. Well, she and Cassidy were alike except for the whole mass murderer and rapist thing.

Dick, on the other hand, was very outgoing. He loved to be around people, was never afraid to make a fool of himself for a laugh. And Mac had started to realize he liked to hide behind a dumb blonde surfer dude façade, which was far from who he really was. Mac was the first one to admit she'd bought into that act for years. Probably most people who went to Neptune High with them did. Logan, of course, was one notable exception and perhaps now Veronica too. It was very clear to her that Dick was her total opposite in almost every way, she hoped that they could figure out a way to make it work to their advantage.

**TBC...**

**_Thanks for reading...Reviews not necessary, but always appreciated!_  
**


	9. Chapter 9--Roughing it (Part 2)

**Roughing it (Part 2)-the actual camping part **

**_Author's note: Just wanted to let you know, parts of this chapter are very different in tone and style from the rest of the story. Also, sex warning, angst warning, and there are mentions of rape and suicide. It's a little darker, more angsty, and at one point I go back and forth a lot between Mac and Dick and their jumbled thought patterns. It gets fluffier at the end though & I also put in another LoVe & MaDi scene at the end. This is the last chapter of this story, as promised. Please read it though, I don't want to scare anyone off. Just wanted to prepare you. I think it's stronger than the other chapters, IMO at least.  
_**

**_ I did leave the door open for a possible continuation, but not a sequel per se. If I do another story related to this one, it won't be until after the holidays though. And I'll try to get 2 or 3 chapters written first before I start posting. Thank you to everyone has been reading, reviewing, following &/or favorited this story. Now that it's all finished, I'd love to get one final review. Please! Did this new tone/style work or not work. _**

**_Disclaimer-Nope, don't own a thing. Rob Thomas owns it all! I also don't own Harry Potter.  
_**

Finally by late afternoon, the camper turned into the road leading to the campgrounds and the main entrance to Sequoia National Park beyond. At the kiosk Mac's dad paid the fee and got directions to their reserved spot in one of the nearby campgrounds.

The site was tucked away near a grove of giant Sequoia trees. Though camping had never been on Mac's list of favorite activities she admitted to herself it was a beautiful spot. Being tucked up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the crisp fall air was so clean and fresh. Once again she was thankful for being a California girl.

Dick's thoughts were very similar to Mac's. It was a gorgeous spot. And even better he got to spend an entire weekend with a beautiful girl. And not just any beautiful girl, Mac. He breathed deep to take in the crisp mountain air. He always loved the tangy salty air of the ocean, but this was a nice change of scenery. He was looking forward to taking Mac on a hike-a nice leisurely nature walk, nothing strenuous enough to put extra stress on Mac's knee though.

After parking and leveling the RV, Mac's parents went about setting up camp. Dick helped Sam and Ryan hook into the electrical and water supplies, while Mac helped her mom connect to the sewer system.

"How did this become our job?" Mac turned her head to get away from the odor. Her eyes were watering.

"I don't know, hon. I guess I just wanted it done right so it became a woman's job." She grinned at her daughter.

Finally with everything hooked up, the guys started unloading and setting up the outdoor furniture. Mac and her mom heated up dinner. Everyone took their plates outside. The sun was starting its descent behind the mountains rising in the distance. Mac took a bite of her mushroom risotto and watched Dick tuck into his meatloaf. Neptune felt as though it were a million miles away.

After dinner was finished and the remains were properly disposed of to prevent uninvited _guests_, everyone lingered in their seats watching the sun relinquish its reign to the moon. Mac's mom had brought out a pot of decaf coffee and even Ryan had a cup.

Conversation revolved around subjects that Dick could participate in and Mac's parents asked him a lot of questions about classes and surfing. He enjoyed feeling like a part of a family again. His dad was two hours away in a federal prison, and his mom was on a whole other continent too busy with her new family.

"Alright guys, everyone ready for dessert?" Mac's mom asked. "It's the perfect night for S'mores." She went inside and grabbed the ingredients while Sam motioned to Dick to follow him to the fire pit located behind their camper. The guys busied themselves making a big fire. It lit up the night. Mac loved the smokey smell perfuming the air. She grabbed a stick from her mom's outstretched hand and spiked several of the strawberry vegan marshmallows. She watched as Dick threaded his marshmallows. The thick, smokey air was soon permeated with the scent of gooey, charred marshmallows. Everyone laughed each time the fire claimed another marshmallow victim.

She sat on one of the logs positioned around the fire pit, with Dick beside her. He had his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. Although the air was toasty from the fire, they had a tan and gray Afghan blanket her mom had made draped over their legs. Her parents and Ryan were seated on another log across from them, the fire between them. Everyone had sticky hands and full bellies. Sam launched into a ghost story, to further enhance the mood.

"I can tell this one in my sleep," Mac cut in. "You tell it every year."

"Well, it's new to Dick, so hush and don't ruin the ending...So anyway, as I was saying before Cindy interrupted, these three best friends are sitting by the fire in one of their backyards having a sleepover. Suddenly, from out in the woods behind the house comes the most eerie shriek you've ever heard. Otherworldly in fact. Like a banshee. The girls huddle up with one another for protection. They have goosebumps now. They are each silently crying for their mommy. The wind starts to kick up...And then..BOO!" Sam loudly shouted the last word.

Mac laughed as Dick jumped. "I can't believe you fell for that. It's dad's favorite part of camping I think. Scaring people with that story. I quit falling for it at like the age of 3. But don't tell him that. For years, I pretended to be scared."

"Hey, I heard that. And no, the S'mores are my favorite part. Then the campfire stories. And I guess spending time with my family ranks pretty high, too."

"If you tell anyone I got scared I'll deny it. We all know who everyone would believe," Dick said ruffling her hair.

"Yeah, me!"

"Oh, that's right."

About an hour later Mac's parents took Ryan and headed back to the camper, leaving them alone by the dwindling fire.

Mac scooted off the log so she could sit down in front of Dick and stretch out her legs. She leaned her head back so it was reclined on Dick's lap. Her hair tickled his bare legs. He reached out and gently massaged her head. She studied Dick, watching the faint light from the dying fire as it drew shadows on his face.

He was such a beautiful man, she thought, not for the first time. Even when she couldn't stand to be in the same room as Dick, she still appreciated the view when she was forced to share airspace with him. He caught her looking at him and smiled as he leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"That's it? That's all I get?"

"Scoot over then."

Mac moved over a little so Dick could sit down beside her on the hard ground. They were the only ones around. He looked over his shoulder at Mac's parents RV but everyone seemed to be tucked in for the night. All the lights were off. Being close to the off season, the few other people staying at the campground that weekend were located in sites on the other side of the vast landscape.

Mac caught Dick looking over at the camper and laughed lightly. "I'm not in high school anymore. My parents know we're dating. Or that we went out on a couple of dates at least."

"We can say we're dating. If you want that." He looked away. "I mean, if you want to be in a relationship with me. I want to be in one with you." His voice trailed off at the end.

"Dick, look at me. Yes, I want that." He leaned in for a kiss at that point. It started out sweet, tentative, then became deeper, more intense, more hungry, yearning.

Mac pressed up against him as he wrapped his arms around her. She dug into his long blonde hair that she loved so much, playfully tugging it. He removed one of his arms from around her tiny waist and snaked it up her shirt, exploring her nipples as she moaned softly in response. Dick shifted so he could lie down on the ground, he kept Mac locked in his arms so she ended up on top of him. They continued kissing and exploring each others' bodies. She removed one hand from his gorgeous hair and started caressing his erect penis that was straining to get out of his pants. He groaned.

"You're killing me, Mackie."

She grabbed the Afghan blanket she and Dick had been cuddling under earlier and draped it over them both. "This is so not where I expected our first time to be." Her voice was gravelly. "You did come prepared, right?"

"Like the Boyscout I never was."

Dick gently scooted Mac over a bit so he could slip out of his shorts and dig through the wallet he'd stowed in the left front pocket. He found a Trojan and opened it up. As way of foreplay Mac helped him put it on his still engorged penis, then Dick returned the favor by helping Mac shed her pants.

Dick removed his shirt to use underneath them to keep some of the dirt off, then draped the oversized blanket over them to give them some privacy. Mac was still on top, straddling him. They returned to kissing. Mac reached down to stroke Dick's penis a couple of times before arching herself in preparation. He groaned loudly as he entered her, she moaned in response before biting his neck. He hoped he could hold back the orgasm which he could feel building. He wanted their first time to be as enjoyable for Mac as it would obviously be for him.

She rocked back and forth, leaning over to nip him again. A few minutes later she let out a loud moan and he could feel her shake. He came just after her. Neither of them felt like moving, their limbs still quaking. They forced themselves to feel around for their clothes and reluctantly put them back on.

"That was...Wow. Okay, I have no more power of speech."

"As usual, you have a way with words there, Casablancas. But yes, I'd say you summed it well. It was pretty fraking good."

"Frak yeah it was. I say we keep practicing though."

"Definitely. Not this weekend though. I'm thinking maybe next time, we find a bed. Not one with my 12 year old brother in it, though."

"No, Ghostworld, this kind of activity is definitely rated NC-17. Not suitable for 12 year old viewers."

"Oh, come on. I would say a R rating. Though I'm sure you're more an expert on NC-17 vs R ratings than I am."

They fell asleep tangled up in each others' arms, the blanket wrapped tightly around them.

Sometime during their lovemaking the fire had fully died out.

In the early dawn Dick woke up and realized where they were. He nudged a heavily asleep Mac awake.

"Wha...?"

"Mac, get up. We fell asleep out here. I don't want your dad to come after me with a shotgun."

"Dad's not a gun enthusiast."

"That's a relief. I don't want to be on the other end of a gun ever again. But still, it's time to wake up. We've got to get back into the camper."

"What are you, 16, and afraid of breaking curfew?"

"I actually get along with your dad, I'd like to keep it that way."

They gathered up the blanket and made the trek to the camper. They were about to quietly pull open the door when they saw Mac's mom sitting in one of the outdoor chairs by the door sipping coffee. "Good morning guys. You're _up _early, didn't hear you guys leave."

"Good morning, mom. Yes, we decided to take a walk and enjoy the quiet morning."

"I'm sure." Natalie gave her daughter a pointed look that said I know the truth, but I'm choosing to ignore it. "Why don't you guys go back to sleep for a few hours."

"Sounds good to me. Love you, mom." Mac kissed her mom on the cheek. She and Dick quietly went into the camper to find their beds.

They both got a few more hours of sleep until Ryan couldn't stand it any more and woke them both up.

There was fresh pot of coffee, and several boxes of cereal on the counter including one of Mac's favorite vegan brands. They helped themselves and took their breakfast out to the picnic table outside. Mac's dad was reading a book and her mom was knitting. The air had a slight chill in it.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Dick asked between bites of cereal.

"No real plans," Mac's dad said. "We like to leave things loose."

"Hey, Dick. There's a river on the other side of the campground. You want to go fishing?"

"Sure, Ryan. Sounds fun."

After Dick finished his breakfast, he and Ryan set off to retrieve the fishing gear Sam had the foresight to pack. Then they dug up a few worms to use as bait. Early morning was usually better for catching more fish, but they were just doing it for fun. He and his dad used to go fishing a lot, Cassidy never wanted to come along. Thinking back to those times, Dick knew now his dad encouraged activities that left out his youngest son. _What an ass_, he thought as he often did each time Dick Senior crossed his mind. He hoped his dad would rot away in prison.

"Think we can get Mac, er Cindy, to tag along?" Dick asked, shaking his head slightly as if to remove all thoughts of his own family.

"Why?"

Dick laughed. "I actually like to hang out with your sister. I like her company."

"Again, I ask why? I don't know, fishing isn't her thing as you probably figured. Hurting innocent animals for sport, blah blah blah."

"She doesn't have to fish with us. And we won't do it for sport. We can clean what we catch and cook it for dinner. And Cindy can have more of her vegan mush crap from last night."

"Okay by me."

Dick convinced Mac to bring a book to read by the banks while he and Ryan fished.

She was about a third of the way into the latest Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Every so often she'd look up to watch her guys fish. A gust of wind blew by and she watched it ruffle Dick's hair. He looked so at peace this morning. And man, that was one tight butt. She blushed slightly thinking of last night. She knew it would be good, the man definitely had practice in the art of making love (deep like at least), but that was beyond good. And with a little more practice, well mind blowing would be more accurate. She cleared her head a little so she could once again concentrate on the wizardry of Harry Potter, rather than Dick and his wizardry.

"Hey Dick, I think I got something."

"Awesome. Be careful there, Ry, the rocks are kind of slippery. Hang on a second, I'll help you." Dick found a spot to rest his rod so he could maneuver over to where Ryan was. A few minutes later the two of them had pulled out a struggling brown trout out of the river. It flopped around. Mac shut her eyes tightly, she hated this part.

"Look at that, little dude. We'll eat well tonight. That's a big one."

Dick picked up his rod again and both guys submerged their lures waiting for the next fish to bite.

"You know Ryan, I had a little brother too. I used to go fishing with my dad when I was your age. He didn't like fishing though, so he would stay home with our mom. I liked spending time with just dad. Now though, I'd give anything to go back in time. Find something I could share with my brother. Something to do just the two of us."

"Where is your brother now? In college too, like Cindy?"

"No. You don't know?" Dick's eyes searched out Mac. She pulled her gaze out of the book in her hand and looked right back at Dick, her eyes wide. She shrugged and nodded, letting him know it was okay to tell Ryan.

"No."

"He died, about a year and a half ago."

"Oh." Ryan got quiet for a moment. "That sucks."

"It does. I miss him every day. But he had problems. He did stuff that wasn't very nice. He hurt people I care about. But he was still my brother."

"Cindy knew a guy who did bad stuff too. He died as well. She was really sad for a long time."

"I know. That guy was my brother. Nobody told you Cassidy was my little brother?"

"No. I don't think so. Or I never really thought about it. You don't look like Cassidy. Or act like him."

"We were very different. Like you and your sister."

"Did you know your brother made my sister cry? A lot."

"Yes, I know. He made me cry a lot, too."

Ryan put his fishing pole down beside him on the bank of the river. "I don't really feel like doing this any more."

Dick put his rod beside Ryan's, then watched as he took off along the river going the opposite direction than the camper.

Mac dropped her book and started to get up.

"I'll go after him," Dick said. "It's my fault he's upset."

"No, it's not your fault. It's mine and my parents'. We wanted to protect him, from life I guess. He was so young. And I was so messed up that entire summer." Mac watched Dick as she spoke. He was so much more open than she. There was the anger in his eyes as she mentioned her depression last year, and then she watched it fade to the sadness that had pretty much resided in his eyes all of freshman year. The sadness which only recently begun to dim.

She watched Dick take off running the same direction as her brother.

Mac laid back down on the grass and looked up at the clouds above. She watched an Eagle flying overhead. In her mind's eye Beaver jumped (flew) off the roof of the Neptune Grand. She wasn't there of course, she was naked in their hotel room, huddled under the shower curtain, crying, waiting to be saved. But she could picture it, picture everything. It was a film that ran through her brain, so vivid sometimes she did think she was there on the roof, tucked in a corner, watching the deadly game her boyfriend played with her best friend. The deadly game her boyfriend lost, or perhaps in his screwed up mind, won.

***********Dick & Ryan***********

Dick saw a flash of Ryan's blond head up ahead of him. He picked up his pace until he was able to sidle up beside him. "Hang on, little dude. Let's sit a minute." He motioned to a tree that fallen among a grove of Sequoias perpendicular to the river bank. Ryan looked like he was about to argue, but then he shrugged and sat down. Dick sat down beside him.

"So."

"So?"

"Good talk. Glad we did this. Maybe we can do it again." Ryan said, smirking.

"Okay, now you remind me of your sister."

"You still don't remind me of your brother."

"That's a good thing."

"Yes, it is. Because if you hurt Cindy like he did, I'd have to kill you."

"I won't ever hurt her. On purpose, at least. I don't think I could live with myself if I did."

It got quiet. Dick was remembering how Cassidy used to talk about Mac. He would light up at just the mention of her name.

Ryan remembered those horrible early days of the previous summer. Cindy would lock herself in her room, she slept most of the day. At night, he'd hear either tears or screams coming through her closed door. When she would leave her room, her eyes were puffy and swollen. One day, he heard his dad yelling at his mom. She screamed back. He didn't hear much of the argument, but he knew it was about Cindy. One thing though that he did hear scared him. His dad was raging about something a worried Logan had mentioned to him three days after Cassidy jumped. Evidently Cindy had cried to Logan and Veronica that Cassidy had taken everything. He heard his mom mention the word rape. He didn't know what it meant at first, though he knew it was something bad, but he was terrified after he looked up the meaning of the word.

"What did you mean, hurt her like the Beav, um Cassidy did?" Dick said softly, breaking the silence.

"Do you know the whole story about what your brother did?"

"Some of it. I was at the Neptune Grand, but I wasn't in their hotel room obviously. I was busy hosting my own party, not knowing what was happening in the very building I was in. I found out later that the Beav locked Mac in their room and went up to the roof. I guess Ronnie knew what he did to our classmates and he tricked her to get her up on the roof. I never got many details from Logan. I wasn't in any shape to hear the details about what happened up there. Maybe I'm still not."

"I don't know much either. Just that Cindy was found naked and crying in a hotel room. Your brother stole her clothes. And um, Logan told my parents that she said Cassidy took everything. No one really knew what she meant by that."

Dick cocked his head, replaying what Ryan just told him. As he got what Ryan was trying to tell him, without really telling him at all, his eyes narrowed. Dick had a fleeting thought if he was a cartoon there would probably be steam coming out of his ears. If there was a wall nearby, he'd have punched a hole clear through. If his brother was still alive, well, he couldn't stand to admit to even himself what he would do to the Beaver if he was standing in front of him.

Of course the Beaver wasn't around. Nor was Cassidy. Those two distinct halves of the whole that made his brother did the most chicken shit thing imaginable, jumped off the roof. Leaving him to clean up the mess left behind. Figuratively. But still...He hated what the Beaver did to Veronica. He hated his own part of it, too, of course. However, if what Ryan suspected was true, and the Beaver raped Mac as well, that would be yet another level of hell.

Dick felt his chest tighten. He'd never had an anxiety attack, but he considered the possibility that he might be having one now. He was in a wide open space, yet he felt trapped, like walls were swallowing him whole. That cartoon steam was still spilling from his ears. He thought of Logan, wished he was here with him now. He couldn't, wouldn't lose the tiny speck of control he had left, not in front of Ryan at least.

"I've got get out of here man. Just take a walk or something. You going to be okay? Go back to Cindy, she's worried about you." Dick took a deep breath and then tried to lighten his tone so he wouldn't scare Ryan.

"I'm fine. I just, I didn't know Cassidy was your brother. It was a surprise. Sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad."

"It's not your fault, little dude. I'll be back soon. I just want to clear my head a little bit. Seriously, go back to your sister. She'll freak. And I don't think either one of us wants that."

Ryan made a face. "No! Not at all." He watched Dick follow the trail deeper into the forest until it swallowed him and he disappeared.

Ryan still sat on the log. His thoughts were jumbled, disjointed. He remembered the fish they'd left on the banks. Abandoned. Maybe a bear would have a good meal.

Halo. He used to be invited to play Halo with Cassidy and Cindy until his mom made him go to his room.

Cindy. She said exactly twelve words to him in those first 2 weeks. _Jump. No. Mom. Leave. No, I don't want to play a game_.

Cindy. He didn't want her to get worried. He reluctantly got up to go back to the spot they'd left her.

*************Mac**************

Mac had closed her eyes. The movie kept coming, scenes from a relationship with Neptune High's most infamous murder and rapist. AKA her first boyfriend. Would his ghost always be there? She felt another presence. Slowly she opened her eyes.

"Ryan! Good, Dick found you. Are you okay?" She hoisted herself up into a sitting position.

"I'm fine, sis. I don't think Dick is though."

"Where is he?"

"He took a hike."

"Why? Why would he leave you alone? Man, when I find him..."

"Take it easy on him. I think he's sad about his brother."

"Of course he is, Ryan. But that doesn't mean he should leave you alone in a strange place."

"I'm not a child."

"Um, yes, actually you are."

"No, I'm not. But I might have said something to upset him. Please don't get mad at him. I've seen you angry. Not a good thing."

"If you don't tell me what you told Dick right now, you'll know pain like you've never known in your pathetic little life. How's that for angry?"

"Scary. First, promise you won't get mad at Dick."

"Oh, I'm not mad at Dick at the moment. You better tell me. Now."

"I heard mom and dad fighting a few days after, you know, the Cassidy thing. I guess you told Logan something that scared him and he told our parents. You, um, you said he took everything. And mom and dad thought it meant something not so good."

"What?" Mac looked confused for a couple of seconds. Then she caught on to what Ryan was implying. "Oh no. Dick thought, he wondered, oh crap. Ryan, no. No. It wasn't like that. Cassidy did steal my clothes, he took my cell phone, things like that. That's what I meant by everything. He did take everything. But not that. Oh my God, poor Dick. No wonder he freaked." She got up so quickly she almost tripped over her own feet. Ryan steadied her.

"About a quarter of a mile down river there is a path leading into the woods running alongside the banks. Dick went up that trail. Careful, it gets steep. Do you want me to go with you?"

Mac was about to say yes when she heard her mom calling in the distance.

"No thanks. Go see what Mom wants. But whatever you do, don't tell her about your conversation with Dick. She'd just get upset. I'll track him down. Look, this isn't your fault. I think Dick is coping so much better, but it's still a little raw for him. Just go back to camp. Tell mom and dad that Dick and I decided to take a walk. It's the truth, kind of. I love you, you little pest." She gave him a brief kiss on his head.

"Later sis." Ryan headed off toward their camper. He heard his mom calling his name once again.

Mac stretched a little to test out her knee. It felt pretty good. Just in case, she tightened the brace for more support. She headed out toward the direction Ryan had pointed her in.

The river was so pretty. The current was fast moving. She watched a kayak rowing by. A group of birds that she thought were probably Ravens flew overhead. She remembered that the proper term was "an unkindness of Ravens." Then there was a murder of Crows. Unkindness. Murder. Ravens. The Beaver. Cassidy. All thoughts today seemed to lead her back to the ghost of Cassidy.

A few minutes later she spotted a trail that sounded like the one Ryan had described. She veered off, and followed it. The path was guarded on both sides by giant Sequoia trees and other trees indigenous to this part of California.

The trail started sloping upward. It was still pretty gradual though, so Mac wasn't worried.

*************Dick***************

Dick was starting to pant a little. He was in pretty good shape with all the surfing he did. He was a pretty athletic guy. But it was getting steeper. The incline started out somewhat gradual, then it became a little more steep as he got further into the forest that comprised the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

He wished it were any other time. He wished he was with Mac, holding her hand. Helping her climb the trail. They'd be joking, laughing. He'd tease her about her genius IQ. Her geek tendencies. Her ability to hack almost any computer network. Her desire to help her friends. Her sweetness wrapped in a quirky exterior. How she was so unlike any one he had ever met. She'd tease him about his grades. She'd tease him about how he could never seem to beat her at any video game ever. The few times he did win, well, those were mainly just flukes.

He had to speak with Mac. He needed to know she was okay. He had to know that Cassidy had not hurt her worse than he thought he'd had. After all, to know Cassidy Casablancas was to be hurt by him.

Dick stopped for a minute to catch his breath. He leaned against a tree, his head resting on the rough trunk. He felt the tears dripping down his face, dropping down, bleeding, merging into the dirt below.

************Mac*************

Mac saw a giant tree limb that had fallen. It was just off the path. She sat down to catch her breath. The climb still wasn't steep, but it was a steady climb up. Her knee felt okay.

She was reminded of the old philosophy question, if a tree falls in the woods and there's no one there to hear it, did it make a sound? Of course. And the chicken came before the egg. Not that she ate either chickens or eggs.

Carnivore. Vegan. Surfer. Geek. Abandoned by his mother. Switched at birth. Brother of a rapist/murderer. Girlfriend of a rapist/murderer. They were a study of opposites. They were more alike than anyone knew.

Mac got up again to continue her quest to find Dick. She had made it up the path probably another 200 feet when she felt the first real twinge of pain in her knee.

She continued on anyway. She had to find Dick.

*************Dick***************

Dick wiped away his tears. He kept picturing Mac huddled naked in a hotel room with only a shower curtain covering her. He wanted to beat that image out of his head. But it was better than images of the other possibility Ryan hinted at. Once again he thought of Logan. Man, he needed him right now. Logan knew the hell he was going through. Logan had lived it, and almost re-lived it (twice) last year.

He pushed off the tree to continue his trek. Sometimes he just needed to get away. Clear the head. Surfing was usually what he turned to, but that wasn't an option right now. He hoped Ryan was with Mac now.

His stomach started grumbling. The day was moving on towards early afternoon now.

*************Mac***************

The grumbling in her stomach reminded Mac that it was almost lunch time. She was no closer to finding Dick than before. The climb was getting steeper. Her knee had stepped up its protests too. The occasional twinges of pain had morphed into full on acheyness. She pushed on.

*************Dick***************

The air was getting thinner, the rocky trail had gone from a gentle slope to a full on climb. Dick was panting harder now. He wanted to take a pleasant hike, not climb a fucking mountain.

All last year, especially during the summer when his dad came back into his life before turning himself into the authorities to man up and serve his jail time, Dick had hidden himself in a bottle. Make that several bottles. The only time he took a break from that escape was during his gaming marathons with Mackie. He might not have a bottle in his hand now, but he was doing the exact same thing. When he didn't like what he saw when his head was clear, he ran away. Mentally, usually. Physically this time.

Shit! He was always pissed at his dad for not manning up, well fuck, that was what he needed to do.

Carefully he reversed direction, and as he slid a bit on one of the many rocks burrowed in the dirt trail, he grabbed onto a nearby tree to gain purchase.

He had a feeling Mac would not take his tendencies to run away when the going got tough very well. She'd be pissed as hell. Though he found a mad Mac-attack very hot indeed, he wasn't in the mood to get her more mad than she already was. Fuck, he did have it bad.

*************Mac***************

Mac was having a bad time. She wasn't much of an outdoorsman-make that outdoors woman-to begin with. Add a bad knee to the mix, well, it was not a good combination. But she could not stand the thought of Dick thinking she'd been even more hurt by Cassidy than she already was. She had to find him. She needed to reassure him.

There was a part of her, small though it was, that liked to think the reason Cassidy threw away her clothes was because he did care about her, he wanted to protect her from who he really was. He really did not want to kill her. She was not going to end up collateral damage. That did not make him less twisted or sick, of course, and he didn't have the capacity to truly care about another person in the way his brother did. But still, to Mac's way of thinking, it was something.

Everyone else had other theories though, including the incompetent therapist her parents forced her to see. It was a waste of their money, though she got some good naps in during those sessions. Most people believed the reason Cassidy threw her clothes out that fateful night was because he knew the more bodies there were, the less of a chance he'd have of getting away with murder. It was probably the truth, Mac admitted to herself. But still she liked her theory better. It cast Cassidy in a slightly better view, though at this point, he was dead and now no one would ever truly know the true motives of that messed up little boy she had loved.

Mac was deep in thought and did not see the big rock in the middle of the trail.

*************Dick***************

What possible reason, what possible fucking reason, did the Beaver have for taking Mac's clothes? Dick could not make sense of that. He could never make sense of anything about that night though.

That fucking night.

He couldn't make sense of all the events that led up to that night either. Events set into motion when Cassidy was just the Beaver, his younger, tag along brother who liked baseball, who liked cartoons, who was innocent, who just wanted his dad and older brother's love. A little boy who was just the type of kid perverts like Woody Goodman liked to victimize. Cassidy. Beaver. The Beav. Were there signs? Of course! Did he miss them? Of fucking course. Could he have protected his little tag along brother? Maybe.

*************Mac***************

If a girl screams in the middle of the woods and there's no one there to hear it, did she make a sound?

Mac found herself sprawled out on the trail. Her knee took the brunt of her less than graceful landing. Her bad knee, the knee that was still recovering from last month's hit and run. The brace probably helped lessen the severity, but that didn't stop the intense waves of pain flowing through her.

She rolled over carefully so she was on her back, looking up at the canopy of trees shading the trail. Slowly, carefully she sat up. She didn't attempt to get up and limp on. There was no point in even trying.

She just sat there, in the middle of the trail, feeling helpless and thinking yet again of that other time she felt helpless. That was not a feeling she liked having. She was a strong woman, dammit. She could hack into almost any computer network on the planet. She couldn't think of one other person in her life that could say that. And she wasn't boasting either. It just was what it was. She knew one of the most devastating secrets about her birth, and she survived. It did not break her. She thought she had moved beyond what Cassidy did. Yet somehow here she was, nearly 500 miles from Neptune, and she couldn't escape the events of her graduation night.

That was how Dick found her about 15 minutes later. Or was it 20? Hell, it could have been longer even. Mac wasn't sure.

Dick rounded a corner, and saw something off in the distance, sitting so still in the middle of the trail.

"Mac!" Dick yelled. "What are you doing down there? Are you okay? Can you get up?"

"I'm peachy," Mac yelled back. "Just sitting down in the middle of these fucking woods for kicks. What the hell do you think I'm doing? I fell and jacked up my already jacked up knee. So no, I'm definitely not okay. Just help me up, so we can get out of this freaking place."

Dick swallowed the remaining 500 or so yards between him and the injured Mac at a pace that would make a thoroughbred race horse envious. He knelt down beside her, removing her brace so he could gently inspect and prod her knee. She hissed in pain and slapped his hand away.

"Why the frak do people do that?" She grumbled.

"Sorry, babe." He replaced the brace, making sure to not make it too tight to accommodate the swelling. Then Dick stood up, bending over so he could carefully lift Mac into his arms.

"That's your grand plan? Carry me down this effing mountain?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Not really," she admitted.

"Good. Then shut up, lay back and enjoy the ride."

Mac did just that, for all of two minutes. "We've got to talk."

"Now?"

"Why not? You're my _**ride**_ back. So this is the perfect time. You think we'll get any alone time when we get back to the camper? Mom will hover around now, I guess, doing her mom thing."

"True. You should probably get that knee looked at."

"Ya think?" More silence. Then, "Dick, um, Cassidy didn't hurt me. He didn't rape me or anything. I did not know Ryan thought that. I didn't really know he knew what rape was. I'm sorry, you know, that you thought that about your brother."

Dick let out a sigh. He was so relieved to get Mac' reassurance. "Well, I never really thought that before, but after what your brother said, I just didn't know any more. And well, with everything else he did, it was hard not to wonder."

"I know. I know what he did to Veronica. We talked about it."

"Do you know everything about Shelly Pomeroy's party?"

Mac frowned, and shifted a little in Dick's arms. She waited a few seconds before answering him. "Yes, I do."

"And?"

"And I think you're not that guy any more. You screwed up, big time. Bad judgment on your part, for sure. But I don't think for one second that you thought your brother ever would have hurt V or you would never never have said that. You are not your brother. You have a tremendous ability to care about others."

"I will never stop feeling guilty about that."

"I think you and V are moving beyond."

"We're starting to."

"I have one more thing to say to you. Don't you ever fucking run away from our problems again.  
Got me? Never again, buddy. You have any doubts, ask me." She punched him on the shoulder, hard.

"Ouch. That's my bad shoulder, Mackie. Besides, you don't want to hit me right now. I might accidentally drop you. I don't think you want that."

"Sorry. Not that I hit you, just that I hit you there. And you sure as hell better not drop me."

"I'll work on not running away. But sometimes I need to go off by myself. That's how I work through stuff. It used to involve copious amounts of alcohol of course, but being that we're in the middle of fucking nowhere, that's not really an option right now. Surfing is something else I usually do to clear my head. Also, not an option right now."

The trip back to camp was slow, arduous, and Dick was so happy when Mac's parents' camper finally came into view. His back was getting sore. He would never tell Mac but she was heavier than she looked. Her weight was perfect, in his opinion, but it wasn't much fun for his back to carry her for such a long distance. Mac was so happy to see the camper because her knee was killing her, especially with all the jostling. That wasn't Dick's fault though. After their discussion about Cassidy, they didn't talk much, both lost in their own thoughts and pain.

Mac's family was outside the camper waiting not-so-patiently for them to get back. Despite Mac's warning, Ryan had told them just enough about what happened to get everyone concerned. Natalie was torn between wanting to comfort Dick and taking care of her injured daughter, though tending to Mac won out in the end. Sam and Dick went off on their own, while Ryan stayed behind listening to his iPod.

Once the guys got back from their walk, the rest of the day was pretty low-key. They grilled hamburgers and veggie burgers for dinner since Ryan's fish had been abandoned in all the drama. It was decided that they would leave early the next morning instead of staying until Monday as previously planned.

**********Monday night, penthouse suite at the Neptune Grand**********

"Hey V, hand me another slice of the veggie special, please." Mac asked.

She was lying stretched out on the couch, her knee propped up on a pillow. Mac, Dick, Logan and Veronica were hanging out in the living area of the suite, eating Cho's pizza and talking. A movie no one was really paying attention to was droning on in the background.

Veronica placed a slice of the cheese-less pizza on Mac's plate, which she had carefully balanced on her stomach. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, Q. Comfy?"

"Yes. Comfy and feeling no pain."

"So, what did the doctor say? Dick mentioned this morning he was dragging you to his family doctor."

"Nothing really. Just stay off of it for another 2 to 4 weeks. Blah blah blah. No further damage. Just set back the healing a bit. I got lucky. Yada yada yada. He did bitch me out for "going hiking" too soon on it."

"Yeah, I still don't get why you thought hiking up a mountain was a good idea. I thought you were the smart one." V asked.

"Dick got upset about Cas, um, about something," Mac corrected. "I just wanted to make sure he was okay."

"Ryan didn't know I was Cassidy's older brother." Dick clarified. "It's okay Mac, you can talk about it."

"I still don't get the mountain climbing thing though."

"I didn't know the trail got that steep. I wasn't thinking about anything but finding Dick."

"Yeah, Ronnie. She's my protector now." Dick smirked. "I went off to clear my head. I didn't know Mac would try to follow me."

"Protector huh? Wow, sounds like an epic camp out to me, Sugarpuss. Why aren't you my protector?" Logan teased Veronica.

"Parts of it were definitely epic," Dick interjected.

"Actually, I'd say it's more accurate to say that this was the worst camping trip ever." Mac said. "No offense, Dick."

"Um, none taken? No, really, the worst ever? How could you say that? Some parts, I admit, were pretty bad. But I can think of one activity in particular that was pretty earth-shaking." Dick leered suggestively at Mac.

Veronica quirked her eyebrow and exchanged a glance with Logan. "Earth shaking?" She mouthed.

"Well, okay, _maybe_ it wasn't all bad. Some parts were pretty terrific." Mac admitted.

"Imagine being trapped in a tight space with those two, Ronnie. Poor Ryan. Bet he's still recovering."

"Echolls, you think I've never been trapped with you and Ronnie before? You know what though, that's a really good idea."

"What is? Though I'm almost afraid to hear your definition of a good idea." Veronica asked.

"We should all take a road trip together. Maybe all go camping together." Dick smiled proudly.

"No!" Everyone shouted in unison.

"No camping, babe," Mac clarified. "Although if we did go camping we should tell ghost stories. Turns out Dick scares easily."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Dick denied.

"Dad just said 'boo' and Dick jumped and shrieked like a 5 year old."

"Mac's high right now, she doesn't know what she's saying." He laughed and ducked as a pillow went sailing over his head. "Okay, no camping. But we should all go on a road trip together sometime."

Once they got Dick off the idea of camping, everyone agreed a vacation together might be fun. They decided Spring Break would be the perfect time for a group trip. They continued to eat pizza, and ignore the movie. The conversation continued on to other topics.

"So how did things go after we left Java Thursday night? Are Piz and Parker still alive?" Mac inquired.

"They were when we left."

"That's a relief. Good roommates are hard to find. I don't think I can re-train anyone else."

"I thought you were staying here again."

"Just for a couple more weeks, til I am off the crutches. Again." Mac grumbled. "You said you guys missed me around here. Guess you got your wish."

"I'll help you with your rent at the apartment." Dick offered.

Mac glared at him. "Excuse me? What am I, a kept woman? Freakin' 09ers, tossing money around. I can afford to pay rent there while I stay here. I might not be worth zillions, but I do have money. Remember that _little_ Hot Asses website Logan and I own? Turns out horny guys will shell out big bucks to give their opinions on girls' butts. Who knew?! Did you know that Bond?"

"I did not know that Q. Oh, and speaking of money, I have a check for you."

"For what?"

"Your computer mojo for the Leon Smith case."

"Oh yes. I'd blocked it out for a moment. That's one check I will definitely be cashing. I earned that one for sure."

"More than earned it," Dick said pointedly. "You should just sign the whole check over to Mackie."

"We've been through this before, Dick. Enough. You're already in trouble for your comment earlier. Want to keep this up? See how much bigger of a hole you can dig?"

Logan smirked, watching Mac handle Dick. Nope, that girl did not need Ronnie's taser to handle Dick. She had her own unique way of dealing with him.

"You're right, Dick."

"No, he's not, V. Case closed. I'll accept the usual cut. No more, no less. Thanks. Okay, now the financials are all arranged. I can afford to pay rent on my apartment while I laze around here like a bum and let you wait on me hand and foot, Dick. Let's move on. How did Biology go today? Did you take a lot of notes for Wednesday exam?"

"Nicely done, Q."

"Thanks Bond. So, Dick?"

"Yes. I took tons of notes today. So many in fact, my hand cramped up. The instructor went over what topics would be covered, I think I'll do fine. I got a lot of studying done Sunday, too. Mac wasn't much fun on the way back. All she did was sleep, and when she was awake all she did was complain. She can be a grumpy one."

"Don't I know it."

"I'm right here, guys."

"Do you hear something?"

"I do. But I don't see her. Mac? Mac? That's just weird."

"Funny, guys."

"I thought so."

"Me, too."

"Me, three," Logan cut in, not wanting to be left out.

"We're just teasing you, Barbie," Dick reassured Mac. She just glared at him.

"Barbie?" Logan inquired.

"He was teasing me about my parents calling me Cindy, so I said it was that or Barbie. Dickie, do you remember that little chat we had about calling me Barbie? Hmmm? I think I'll enlist Bond as my accomplice. We can make bodies disappear."

"Wow, we sure have some scary women here, Echolls."

"Don't I know it. If you think Barbie is bad, she's got nothing on Ronnie."

"I think she's catching up. Ronnie can be a bad influence."

"Yes, she can. And I find her corruption a major turn on." Logan said winking at Veronica.

"So, what did you guys do this weekend while we were on the camping trip from hell?"

"Dad has started dating Alicia again," Veronica said smiling.

"Aw, Wallace's mom. They were so cute together."

"You wouldn't say that, Mac, if you were forced to endure what I did Saturday night."

Mac quirked her brow at Logan. "Well, I'm sure our little adventure in the woods was nothing compared to your situation. So what trauma did you endure?"

Logan paused dramatically. "A double date with Ronnie's dad and Alicia. We went to Luigi's."

"Sounds fun."

"It was, kind of the way a root canal is fun."

"Oh stop it, Logan. It wasn't that bad. I think Alicia is really good for dad. Maybe next time Mac and Dick can join us too. We can do a triple date."

"Next time?!" Logan had a panicked expression on his face. "I don't think I'm free that day."

"Maybe you'll finally get a brother out of the deal, V. Two actually. And bunk beds."

"Come on, guys. Let's not rush them to the alter. They just started dating again."

"Yes, but at their age, they can't afford to wait too long."

"I think old love is cute. You should have seen the Macster's parents this weekend. Adorable."

Mac just rolled her eyes.

"As much fun as going on a date with you guys and Ronnie's dad and Alicia sounds, I don't think Mr. Mars likes me much. I think Mac and I will skip the triple date. Thanks but no thanks."

"Oh, so look who is speaking for us now?" Mac smirked at Dick.

"Touché. I guess we just have to face it, Mac-attack, we're _that_ couple now."

**The end...**

**A/N-I plan on eventually getting to a continuation of this story, and you might have guessed it will probably be a road trip story taking place during spring break. It will be MaDi, but LoVe will figure prominently.  
**


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